TRANSLATED  AND    EDITED  BY 

H.R.H. Princess  Christian 
of  Sghleswig  Holstein 


bk$ 


M 


THE 


MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH 


AND 


VOLTAIRE. 


THE 


MARGRAVINE  OF  BAIREUTH 


AND 


VOLTAIRE 


BY 


Dr.      GEORGE      HORN 


TRANSLATED   FROM    THE   GERMAN    BY 

HER  ROYAL   HIGHNESS   PRINCESS   CHRISTIAN 

OF   SCHLESWIG  HOLSTEIN 
PRINCESS   OF    GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   IRELAND 


NEW    YORK 
SCRIBNER    &    WELFORD 

1888 


LIBRARY 
UNIVFF  CALIFORNIA 

•    RA 


TO 


MY     DEAR      HUSBAND 


THIS    TRANSLATION 


IS     AFFECTIONATELY     DEDICATED. 


PREFACE. 


A  few  months  ago  Dr.  George  Horn  of  Berlin,  sent  me 
an  interesting  little  volume,  containing  the  correspondence 
(published  for  the  first  time)  between  the  Margravine 
of  Baireuth  and  the  great  French  author  Voltaire.  The 
letters  were  interspersed  with  explanatory  remarks  and 
comments  on  them.  It  struck  me  that  a  translation 
of  this  volume  would  be  a  fitting  sequel  to  that  of  the 
curious  Memoirs  of  the  Margravine,  published  lately  by 
me.  Having  obtained  the  necessary  permission,  I  now 
venture  to  make  public  my  effort,  trusting  it  may  meet 
with  as  kind  a  reception  as  the  previous  one  alluded  to. 
I  am  quite  aware  that  the  volume  is  open  to  the 
criticism  that  it  contains  some  repetition  of  matter  to  be 
found  in  the  Memoirs,  but  it  should  be  remembered  that 
the  repetition,  if  such  has  occurred,  was  necessary  to 
explain  certain  subjects  to  which  the  letters  refer.  The 
correspondence  besides,  stretches  over  that  period  of  the 
Margravine's  life,  of  which  she  herself  gives  no  account 
and  gives  us  a  fuller  and  more  varied  insight  into  her 
character. 

In  her  Memoirs  she  often  appears  harsh  and  embittered, 
whilst  her  letters  prove  her  to  have  been  a  large-hearted 


PREFACE. 


and  generous-minded  woman,  who  forgot  her  own  misfor- 
tunes in  her  solicitude  for  others. 

Voltaire's  letters  are  both  graceful  and  witty,  and  whilst 
showing  his  capacity  for  true  devotion  and  friendship,  he 
yet  maintains  throughout  them  that  egotism  and  vanity 
which  have  always  characterized  him. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  translate  the  letters  as  literally 
as  possible,  but  as  the  book  was  written  for  Germany, 
I  have  been  obliged  to  make  the  translation  a  free  one, 
adhering  however  throughout,  strictly  to  the  sense.  I 
have  entirely  omitted  some  passages  as  being  of  no 
interest  to  English  readers. 


Cumberland  Lodge, 

May,  1888. 


THE  MARGRAVINE   OF   BAIREUTH 
AND  VOLTAIRE. 


During  the  eighteenth  century  Germany,  or  rather  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire,  was  broken  up  into  many  small  princi- 
palities, numbering  about  three  hundred.  However  great 
was  the  mischief  wrought  to  the  Grerman  people  by  the 
shattering  of  this  great  territory,  so  much  the  greater  on  the 
other  hand  was  the  benefit  its  intellectual  development 
derived  therefrom.  The  Grerman  nation  had  since  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  sunk  into  complete  apathy  as  regarded  higher  and 
nobler  interests,  and  it  required  some  stimulus  of  an  intellectual 
nature  to  rouse  it.  This  was  given  by  these  tiny  Courts. 
The  principalities  were  small,  there  was  little  to  do  in  them, 
and  the  leisure  thus  naturally  resulting,  in  a  great  measure,  was 
the  cause  of  many  of  the  Grerman  Courts  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  especially  the  less  important  ones,  becoming  the 
seats  of  science  and  learning,  and  spreading  their  healthy  influ- 
ence over  the  nation.  With  many  of  these  princes  the  cultiva- 
tion of  literature  and  art  may  in  part  have  been  in  imitation  of 
Louis  XIY.  Every  one  fancied  himself  imbued  with  some  of 
his  genius,  and  was  anxious  to  walk  in  his  footsteps  in  this  direc- 
tion, though  unable  to  emulate  his  greatness  and  splendour. 

B 


CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


Of  those,  however,  possessed  of  capabilities  of  a  higher  order, 
it  was  the  innate  desire  to  extricate  themselves  from  the 
national  degradation  to  which  Grermany  had  sunk,  and  to  take 
refuge  in  the  vast  sphere  of  intellectual  culture.  Grermany 
had  at  that  time  no  literature  of  its  own  of  any  importance, 
such  as  is  now  the  case.  French  was  spoken  and  written  at 
all  German  Courts,  to  which  the  society  of  the  scientific  and 
learned  was  almost  entirely  confined.  French  literature 
reigned  supreme.  This  could  not  be  called  national  progress, 
but  it  laid  the  seeds  for  future  intellectual  development. 

Next  to  Rheinsberg  and  later  on  Sans  Souci,  the  Court 
of  the  Margrave  Frederic  of  Brandenburg-Baireuth  held  a 
foremost  place  as  regards  science  and  learning,  due 
almost  entirely  to  the  influence  of  his  wife,  Frederica 
Wilhelmine,  Princess  of  Prussia.  She  was  Frederic  the 
Great's  favourite  sister,  and  she  was  a  worthy  object  of  so 
great  a  man's  affection.  For  twenty-three  years  the  Court 
of  a  country  numbering  only  200,000  inhabitants  rivalled 
those  of  other  great  countries  in  intellectual  importance  and 
renown.  The  Margravine  was  the  magnet  which  attracted 
all  that  was  greatest  and  most  celebrated,  all  that  was  most 
worthy  of  esteem  and  consideration.  Much  of  the  evidence 
of  the  Margravine's  intercourse  with  her  great  contempo- 
raries has  been  lost,  but  one  of  the  most  interesting  pieces 
has  yet  been  preserved  to  us,  and  we  feel  it  a  duty  to 
make  it  public. 

Among  the  papers  of  the  family  of  F.  von  Miedel,  in 
Baireuth,  the  author  found  an  old  manuscript,  yellow  with 
age,  on  the  title-page  of  which  stood  written  in  large 
characters,  "  Letters  from  Voltaire." 

After  comparing  the  handwriting  of  this  title-page  with 
that  of  the  copy  of  the  Memoirs  kept  in  the  Royal  Library 
at  Berlin,  there  was  no  doubt  that  it  was  that  of  the 
Margravine.  This  manuscript  contained  nothing  less  than 
twenty-five  unpublished  letters  of  the  celebrated  writer  to 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH. 


the  Princess,  and  one  to  the  Marquis  d'Adheniar.  These 
letters  are  all  in  Voltaire's  own  small  and  original  hand- 
writing, and  read  now  like  thrusts  from  a  dagger,  now  like 
arrows  shot  from  Cupid's  bow,  and  each  yet  unmistakable  in 
its  originality,  even  where  the  writer  seems  most  t  desirous 
of  combining  the  beauty  of  his  mind  with  the  elegance  of  his 
handwriting,  in  order  to  do  honour  to  the  King's  daughter. 

This  same  manuscript  contained  also  twelve  autograph 
letters  from  Baron  von  Polnitz  to  the  Margravine.  Who  is 
there  who  has  not  heard  of  him  and  of  his  amusing 
and  often  times  spiteful  descriptions  of  persons  and  courts 
of  his  time  ?  There  were  few  sovereigns  whom  he  had  not 
served,  and  there  was  scarcely  any  Court  in  Europe  which 
he  had  not  visited.  He  had  acquired  his  knowledge  of  the 
French  language  whilst  a  light-hearted  page  at  the  Court  of 
the  Duchess  Elizabeth- Charlotte  of  Orleans,  in  Paris  and  at 
Versailles.  He  then  served  three  Prussian  kings,  as  Master 
of  the  Ceremonies  and  Chamberlain  ;  changed  his  faith  three 
times,  and  remained  true  to  that  one  only  which  allowed 
that  he  was  the  most  intellectual  and  amusing  of  courtiers, 
and  that  a  man,  especially  if  he  were  called  Polnitz,  required 
much  money. 

The  witty  gossip  of  the  Prussian  Chamberlain,  together 
with  the  Memoirs  of  the  Margravine  of  Baireuth,  are  still  the 
best  source  for  studies  of  German  Court  life  during  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  reader  will  therefore 
observe  that  the  letters  from  Baron  von  Polnitz  (which  are 
given  together  with  those  from  Voltaire)  throw  many  a 
side  light  on  Voltaire's  relations  to  the  Knights  of  the  Pound 
Table  of  Sans  Souci. 

Polnitz  was  well  aware  how  best  to  use  his  pen  and  his 
wit.  In  order  to  fill  his  generally  empty  purse,  he  wrote  de- 
scriptions of  festivities  given,  and  journeys  made  by  the 
Prussian  Court,  the  copies  of  which  he  then  sent  in  the  form 
of  Memoirs,  to  the  different  absent  members  of  the  Prussian 

b  2 


CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


Royal  Family.  This  was  at  all  times  a  profitable  trans- 
action, as  he  had  ample  compensation  given  him  for  the 
outlay  in  pens  and  ink. 

Such  a  Memoir,  relating  to  the  journey  of  the  Queen 
Mother  to  Oranienburg  and  Rheinsberg,  was  likewise  found 
with  the  manuscript,  accompanied  by  a  few  lines  in  the 
writer's  own  hand.  The  copy  of  a  play  which  was  acted  in 
honour  of  the  Margravine  of  Baireuth's  birthday,  at  her 
country  seat,  the  Hermitage,  on  the  3rd  of  July,  1744,  was 
amongst  these  papers.  According  to  a  marginal  note  on  the 
index  of  the  manuscript,  this  piece  was  supposed  to  have  been 
written  by  Voltaire,  but  we  have  no  confirmation  of  this 
supposition.  There  were  also  found  three  autograph  letters 
from  La  Bruyere,  written  from  Naples  and  Rome  in  the 
years  1743  and  1744. 

The  chief  interest  of  our  discovery,  however,  belongs  to 
Voltaire's  letters.  They  date  from  1742  to  1758.  How  the 
Von  Miedels  became  possessed  of  these  papers  has  never 
been  explained.  The  words  written  on  the  outer  sheet,  and 
which  might  have  cleared  up  the  mystery,  had  evidently 
been  effaced  with  a  purpose ;  only  three  words  could  be 
deciphered,  and  these  would  lead  one  to  suppose  that  after 
the  death  of  the  Margravine,  the  manuscript  had  been  taken 
to  Stuttgard.  It  undoubtedly  became  the  property  of  the 
Margravine's  only  child  Frederica,  wife  of  Duke  Charles  of 
Wurtemberg — the  same  Prince  by  whose  tyrannical  be- 
haviour Schiller's  genius  was  so  early  matured.  The  Duchess 
of  Wurtemberg  died  at  Baireuth  in  1780,  separated  from  her 
husband,  after  an  unhappy  married  life.  Tradition  says  she 
died  in  consequence  of  a  vegetable  poison,  which  she  had 
used  daily  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  her  complexion. 

Her  personal  property,  amongst  it  her  library  which  no 
doubt  contained  our  manuscript,  was  sold  by  auction,  and 
was  probably  bought  by  a  member  of  the  family  of  Von 
Miedel,  who  was  Chamberlain  at  the  Court  of  Baireuth,  and 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH. 


possessed  of  literary  and  artistic  tastes.  For  more  than  a 
century  Voltaire's  letters  to  the  Margravine  lay  buried  and 
unknown,  whilst  the  corresponding  letters  from  the  Mar- 
gravine to  Voltaire  had  already  been  published  in  several 
editions  of  his  own  works,  more  especially  in  that  edited  by 
Beuchot.  Those  from  Voltaire,  with  the  exception  of  two 
which  were  printed  in  Volume  VII  of  this  writer's  cor- 
respondence, were  believed  to  be  lost.  Yet  it  was  but  a 
century's  dust  which  hid  them. 

The  published  letters  of  the  Margravine  receive  in  a  great 
measure  their  real  meaning  and  importance  from  their 
connection  with  those  of  Voltaire.  Read  together,  the  whole 
picture  stands  complete  before  us,  as  does  many  a  beautiful 
mosaic  dug  out  in  parts  from  its  grave  of  centuries.  It 
represents  the  relations  existing  not  only  between  the  poet 
and  the  Margravine,  but  also  between  them  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Frederic  the  Great  on  the  other  ;  an  intellectual  union, 
the  interest  in  which  becomes  deepened  the  more  truly  the 
three  great  personages  who  formed  it  are  brought  before  us. 

The  style  in  which  letters  were  written  in  the  eighteenth 
century  is  different  to  that  of  the  present  day.  Then  ideas  pre- 
dominated, whilst  now  facts  form  the  ground  work.  Then 
is  to  be  observed  the  desire  of  soaring  above  the  confused 
social  conditions,  and  the  unthinking,  unpoetic,  realistic  life, 
into  the  sunshine  of  a  life  of  thought.  The  aim  of  writers 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  on  the  other  hand,  is  to  beautify  and 
glorify  the  events  of  real  life  with  its  ideal  acquisitions. 
This  is  in  great  measure  the  reason  why  we  found  so  few  real 
facts  contained  in  the  letters  written  in  the  last  century,  and 
so  much  philosophic  reasoning,  self-conceit,  fine  words,and 
self-glorification.  In  times  like  our  own,  truthfulness  is 
what  is  aimed  at,  though  oftentimes  expressed  in  terms 
somewhat  more  rough  and  inconsiderate  than  of  old.  Yet 
even  those  who  lived  in  the  times  of  powder  and  paint  were 
unable   to   entirely  hide  their  real   nature  when  anything 


CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


touched  them  nearly.  Their  joy  or  sorrow,  enthusiasm  or 
indignation,  broke  through  the  artificial  harriers,  and  they 
showed  themselves  as  they  were,  and  not  as  they  wished  to 
appear. 

"We  should  destroy  the  interest  in  the  following  pages, 
were  we  to  say  that  this  short  criticism  on  letter  writing 
during  the  eighteenth  century  had  no  connection  with  the  cor- 
respondence now  before  us.  The  reader  will  be  the  best  judge 
of  this.  Voltaire  and  Frederic  the  Great  were  not  only 
men  of  their  day,  but  they  were  the  two  great  landmarks  of 
it,  and  in  fact  represented  their  time  ;  Wilhelmine  sharing 
her  brother's  intellectual  superiority.  Although  the  letters 
contain  nothing  startling  in  their  novelty,  yet  they  will 
perhaps  place  Voltaire's  relations  to  the  great  king  in  a 
clearer  light. 

Voltaire's  writings  gained  their  importance  chiefly  through 
the  influence  they  exercised  on  that  period,  and  not  owing  to 
any  innate  beauty  such  as  rendered  those  of  Shakespeare, 
Corneille,  and  Goethe  immortal.  Nevertheless,  the  interest 
felt  in  his  personality,  and  in  the  opinions  expressed  in  his 
letters,  will  long  outlive  his  tragedies,  comedies,  novels, 
historical  works  and  poems,  with  the  exception  of  his 
madrigals. 

The  following  letters  show  Voltaire  partly  in  a  new  light, 
as  possessed  of  amiable  and  tender  feelings,  of  an  enthusiastic 
and  sincere  devotion  for  a  woman,  who  certainly  was  one 
of  the  most  gifted  and  remarkable  persons  of  her  own  rank 
and  time. 

No  one  escaped  Voltaire's  biting  sarcasm,  nothing  was 
holy  to  him,  and  yet  before  this  woman  his  love  of  mockery 
seemed  to  have  died  within  him,  his  respect  for  people  to 
have  returned,  and  he  seemed  to  have  become  imbued  with 
kindly  feelings  towards  all  mankind. 

Not  Voltaire  alone,  but  also  the  Margravine  is  presented 
to  us  in  a  different  light  to  that  in  which  she  generally  appears. 


AND    THE    MAKGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH. 


In  these  days  when  so  much  stress  is  laid  on  family  affec- 
tions, she  has,  so  to  speak,  fallen  into  discredit  by  the 
inconsiderate  manner  in  which  she  refers  to  her  family  in 
her  Memoirs.  Certainly  the  bitter  animosity  with  which 
Wilhelmine  speaks  of  her  Royal  parents  can  in  no  way  be 
justified,  though,  when  one  has  read  the  account  of  her  sad 
childhood,  it  is  to  be  understood.  In  those  days  the  general 
desire  to  appear  intellectual  prevailed,  even  at  the  expense  of 
the  most  sacred  feelings.  For  the  sake  of  making  a  witty 
remark  or  an  appropriate  bon  mot  no  mercy  was  shown,  not 
even  to  those  entitled  to  consideration.  Even  though  this 
mania  represented  but  a  style  affected  in  society  and  in 
reality  not  so  pernicious  as  it  might  appear,  yet  it  was  not 
calculated  to  promote  the  kindlier  feelings  in  human  nature 
or  strengthen  family  affection.  Wilhelmine  suffered  from 
the  prevailing  evil.  It  must  also  be  taken  into  account  that 
her  Memoirs  were  not  intended  for  publication.  They  were 
the  unrestrained  outpouring  of  her  heart,  besides  which,  they 
were  written  at  a  period  in  her  life  when  the  suppressed 
grief  at  the  loss  of  her  husband's  affections  made  the  events 
of  her  troubled  childhood  appear  darker  and  more  bitter  than 
they  would  otherwise  have  done. 

Although  she  may  have  been  guilty  of  some  inaccuracies 
and  exaggerations,  yet  these  certainly  were  unintentional  on 
her  part.  The  Margravine  was  endowed  with  the  nervous 
sensitiveness  of  her  century,  and  she  was  irritable  to  a 
degree.  She  was  but  a  woman,  and,  as  such,  wrote  on  the 
impulse  of  the  moment.  This,  in  great  measure,  proves  that 
she  was  anything  but  heartless  or  unfeeling,  as  historians 
generally  represent  her.  These  and  all  other  accusations 
which  may  be  made  against  her,  are  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  the  heroism  of  that  love  she  showed  her  brother 
in  the  hours  of  his  greatest  need,  an  affection  so  great  and 
strong  that  her  feeble  frame  sunk  under  it. 

The  Margravine  Frederica  Sophie  Wilhelmine  of  Branden- 


8  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

burg-Baireutk  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  King  Frederic 
William  I  of  Prussia,  and  was  born  in  Berlin  3rd  July 
1709.  On  November  20th,  1731,  she  was  married  to  the 
hereditary  Prince  of  Brandenburg-Baireuth  (her  cousin 
being  one  of  the  Franconian  Hohenzollern  line),  who 
became  Margrave  in  1735.  This  marriage  was  to  a  certain 
extent  an  act  of  desperation  on  Wilhelmine's  part.  Who  is 
there  who  is  not  acquainted  with  that  catastrophe  in  Frederic 
the  Great's  childhood,  that  terrible  tragedy  enacted  in  a 
Royal  family. 

The  old  alliance  between  the  Hohenzollerns  and  the 
Guelphs  was,  now  that  the  cheery  Elector  of  Hanover 
had  become  the  grave  and  constitutional  King  of  England, 
to  be  re-established  on  a  new  and  firmer  footing.  To  attain 
this  end,  the  well-known  project  of  a  double  marriage  had 
been  planned,  according  to  which  Wilhelmine  was  to  marry 
her  cousin,  the  son  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  afterwards 
George  II,  and  the  Prussian  Crown  Prince,  Princess  Amelia 
of  England.  The  Queen  of  Prussia,  daughter  of  George  I 
of  England,  a  proud  and  ambitious  woman,  revelled  in  this 
plan.  She  looked  on  it  as  a  settled  matter,  all  the  more  so 
as  her  husband,  the  rough,  uneducated,  and  yet  straight- 
forward, practical  King  Frederic  William  I  was  not 
adverse  to  it.  He  felt  satisfied  that  he  need  give  his 
daughter  no  marriage  portion  nor  increase  his  son's  income. 
For  these  reasons  the  King  was  quite  satisfied.  Wilhelmine, 
Queen  of  England  !  !  Everything  had  been  arranged  by 
the  Queen  in  anticipation  of  this  event,  but  she  had  for- 
gotten the  House  of  Hapsburg.  Would  not  such  a 
close  alliance  between  these  two  Protestant  powers  be  a 
source  of  continual  danger  to  this  Imperial  House  ?  Although 
England  would  not  be  so  much  to  be  feared,  yet  there  was 
Prussia.  The  House  of  Hapsburg  had  always  looked  with 
suspicion  and  distrust  on  this  "  new  kingdom,"  with  its 
Puritanical  Court,  its  well-ordered  finances,  and  tall  soldiers. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  0 

Would  not  the  protectorship,  already  exercised  by  Prussia 
with  such  effect  over  the  oppressed  imperial  Protestant 
subjects,  eventually  become  a  great  power ;  and  would 
Prussia  not  one  day  throw  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  House 
of  Hapsburg  and  wrest  the  imperial  crown  from  its  head  ? 
Not  that  visible  crown  which  was  kept  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  but  the  invisible  one,  which  the  newly 
awakened  national  spirit  places  upon  him  who  realizes  its 
longings,  feelings,  and  thoughts.  For  this  reason  these 
marriages  must  not  take  place.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary 
that  those  about  the  King  who  were  for  Austria,  and  who 
stood  in  its  pay,  should  do  their  utmost  to  sow  the  seeds 
of  dissatisfaction  and  suspicion  in  his  mind.  They  must 
endeavour  to  arouse  and  keep  alive  his  displeasure  and 
anger,  chiefly  against  those  who  were  nearest  and  dearest  to 
him,  his  wife  and  children,  but  especially  against  Wilhelmine 
and  the  Crown  Prince.  The  two  Austrian  agents,  Grunikow 
and  Seckendorf,  succeeded  so  well  in  their  machinations,  that 
they  finally  brought  about  a  catastrophe  such  as  to  fill  even 
them  with  horror  and  dread,  viz.,  the  unsuccessful  attempt 
at  flight  by  the  Crown  Prince,  and  the  sentence  of  death 
subsequently  passed  on  him  and  his  accomplice,  Katte,  by  a 
special  order  from  the  King. 

Katte  had  to  die  before  the  eyes  of  the  Crown  Prince.  It  was 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  the  King  was  prevented,  by  the 
earnest  representations  of  foreign  courts  and  influential 
people,  from  insisting  on  his  son's  execution.  Amongst  those 
who  helped  to  prevent  it,  was  the  energetic  Madame  de 
Kamke,  the  Queen's  Mistress  of  Robes.  She  had  the  courage 
to  address  the  enraged  King  as  follows  :  "  You  have  prided 
yourself  hitherto  on  being  a  just,  righteous,  and  God  fearing 
Prince.  God  has  rewarded  you  by  showering  untold  blessings 
on  you.  Tremble  to  depart  from  His  holy  laws,  and  fear  the 
divine  wrath.  It  has  already  punished  two  Sovereigns  who, 
in  the  same  manner  as  you  are  about  to  do,  shed  the  blood 


10  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

of  their  own  sons.  Philip  II  and  Peter  the  Great  both 
died  without  male  heirs.  Their  countries  became  the  prey  to 
foreign  and  civil  wars,  and  these  two  sovereigns,  however  great 
they  may  have  been,  have  become  the  horror  of  mankind. 
Repent  Sire.  The  first  outburst  of  your  anger  is  still  pardon- 
able, but  it  will  become  criminal  if  you  do  not  endeavour  to 
control  it." 

Hapsburg  saw  its  plans  crowned  with  success.  The  King 
of  Prussia  took  a  decided  aversion  to  the  English  marriages. 
The  Crown  Prince  was  to  receive  full  pardon  and  be  released 
from  his  confinement  in  the  fortress  of  Kustrin,  on  condition 
that  the  Princess  "Wilhelmine  agreed  to  marry  her  Branden- 
burg cousin,  the  Hereditary  Prince  of  Baireuth.  This 
sacrifice  she  was  ready  to  make — for  a  sacrifice  it  was  to  accept 
a  husband  whom  she  did  not  know,  and  had  not  even  seen 
— for  the  sake  of  that  brother  who,  from  his  earliest  days,  had 
been  the  object  of  her  love  and  care,  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  peace  and  happiness  of  her  family.  Wilhelmine, 
to  whom  the  choice  of  four  crowns  had  been  offered,  (Sweden, 
Poland,  Russia,  and  England),  married  the  future  Heir  to  a 
country  which,  though  prosperous  and  nourishing,  was  yet 
of  so  small  dimensions,  that  its  affairs  of  state  could  be  settled 
at  breakfast.  Her  brother,  indeed,  repaid  her  for  this  proof 
of  her  devotion  by  the  tenderest  affection  of  which  he  was 
capable. 

The  danger  which  the  Imperial  House  had  apprehended 
from  the  English  marriages  was  obviated  by  these  means. 
Another,  greater  though  unforeseen,  had,  however,  arisen 
in  its  stead.  The  intrigues  of  the  Austrian  Court  had  tended 
to  develop  the  character  of  the  heir  to  the  Prussian  throne. 
The  greater  the  depths  to  which  these  proceeded,  the  more 
the  strength  of  his  nature  matured.  He  only  waited  for  a 
favourable  moment  to  make  the  House  of  Hapsburg  pay  the 
penalty  for  the  sorrows,  troubles,  and  struggles  it  had  caused 
him.     Hapsburg   itself  had  sown   the   dragon's   teeth,  and 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  11 

Silesia  became  the  pearl  in  Prussia's  crown,  the  price  to 
be  paid  for  Frederic's  miserable  youth. 

Professor  Preuss,  the  well-known  historian  of  the  House  of 
Brandenburg  and  the  first  authority  on  Frederic  the  Great, 
quotes  the  following  remark  which  De  Catt  (Frederic's 
reader)  heard  from  the  King's  own  lips  :  "  When  I  was 
young  I  never  would  do  anything,  but  was  always  running 
about.  My  sister  of  Baireutli  said  to  me,  '  Are  you  not 
ashamed  so  to  neglect  your  talents  ? '  I  then  took  to  my 
books." 

It  was  Wilhelmine,  therefore,  who  first  roused  in  her 
brother  that  desire  for  mental  culture,  the  results  of  which, 
in  its  varied  aspects,  has  distinguished  him  for  all  ages. 
The  sister,  in  all  probability,  was  more  remarkable  than  the 
brother  through  the  influence  of  her  writings,  not  alone  in 
philosophical  speculations,  but  also  in  her  love  for  what  was 
highest  and  noblest  in  art.  A  few  words  are  often  sufficient 
for  her  to  give  a  true  and  withal  grotesque  picture  of  people. 

Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  character  of  King 
Frederic  William  I,  and  his  abhorrence  for  all  art 
and  learning,  cannot  but  be  surprised  that  his  eldest 
daughter  had  nevertheless  received  an  education  so  far 
superior  to  that  which  was  generally  given  to  royal 
princesses  in  those  days.  The  King  troubled  himself  but 
little  about  the  education  of  his  daughters.  That  which  he 
looked  upon  as  a  danger  to  his  son,  and  tried  in  every  way 
to  prevent,  he  let  pass  by  unobserved  in  his  daughter,  all  the 
more  so  as  she  was  destined  to  be  Queen  of  England.  He 
at  least  respected  in  Wilhelmine  the  likeness  to  his  mother, 
Sophie  Charlotte,  the  friend  and  admirer  of  the  celebrated 
Leibnitz.  She  also  had  founded  the  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences  at  Berlin,  in  imitation  of  the  one  in  France. 
Princess  Wilhelmine  bore  out  in  a  striking  manner  the 
assertion  that  great  qualities  and  mental  capacities  are 
generally  again  apparent  in  the  second,   and  not  the  first, 


12  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

descendants  of  a  family.  She  was  the  worthy  grand-daughter 
of  Sophie  Charlotte,  and  perpetuated  the  principles  of  mental 
culture  held  by  that  philosophical  Queen.  These  were 
fostered  in  the  Princess  by  her  governess,  Frl.  von  Sonnsfeld, 
former  lady  in  waiting  to  that  Queen.  "  She  taught  me 
what  real  feeling  was,"  Wilhelmine  writes  in  her  Memoirs. 
"  I  now  did  my  lessons  with  delight,  and  began  to  take  an 
"  interest  in  literature  and  reading,  which  soon  became  my 
"  favourite  occupation.  I  had  an  English  and  an  Italian 
"  master  added  to  the  others.  I  was  well  versed  in  ancient 
"  and  modern  history,  geography,  and  the  first  principles  of 
"  philosophy ;  I  understood  music  thoroughly,  and  I  made 
"  great  progress  with  my  studies." 

Her  zeal  for  her  studies  was  shared  by  her  brother,  with 
whom  she  had  made  learning  a  point  of  honour.  Frederic 
came  every  afternoon  to  see  his  sister,  and  they  then  read 
and  studied  together  in  order  to  enlarge  their  minds  and 
views  on  all  subjects  of  interest.  Wilhelmine  certainly 
occupied  the  post  of  teacher,  not  alone  as  elder  sister,  but 
because  she  at  that  time  possessed  the  superior  mind  of  the 
two.  She  superintended  the  education  of  her  younger 
sisters,  and,  although  but  a  child,  was  treated  as  a  grown 
up  person  by  her  parents  and  their  Court. 

Fun  and  jokes  were  not  excluded  from  these  hours  of 
serious  study,  and  the  little  weaknesses  of  those  around 
them  roused  the  love  of  mockery  innate  in  the  Princess  and 
her  brother.  They  used  Scarron's*  humorous  novel,  by 
making  satires  from  it  applicable  to  the  Imperial  party  at 
Court,  and  were  thus  enabled  before  others  to  amuse  them- 
selves at  the  expense  of  these  hateful  personages  without  its 
being  found  out.  Grumkow,  for  instance,  was  La  Ran- 
cune,    Seckendorf  La  Rapiniere.      When   the   brother  and 


•Paul  Scarron,  born  1610  or  1611,  died  1660;  was  Madame  de  Main- 
tenon's  first  husband,  and  a  French  poet. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  13 

sister  joked  about  Madame  de  Bouvillion,  the  portly  good- 
natured  Frau  von  Kamke  was  meant.  This  lady  enquired 
one  day  who  Madame  de  Bouvillion  was,  and  the  Crown 
Prince,  with  a  malicious  look  at  his  sister,  replied,  "  She 
was  mistress  of  robes  to  the  Queen  of  Spain."  A  short  time 
after  this,  the  conversation  turning  on  the  Spanish  Court, 
Frau  von  Kamke,  who  had  never  heard  of  Scarron's  novel, 
said  that  all  the  mistresses  of  the  robes  of  the  Spanish  Queen 
were  of  the  family  of  Bouvillion.  Everybody  laughed,  and 
she  soon  found  out  that  she  had  made  a  stupid  remark,  and 
had  been  taken  in  by  the  Crown  Prince.  Even  the  King 
was  not  spared  by  his  children  in  their  satires,  for  they  had 
assigned  to  him  the  part  of  Le  Eagotin.  In  later  years 
the  Margravine  heartily  repented  this  want  of  filial  respect. 
It  would  be  almost  impossible  rightly  to  understand  the 
peculiar  characteristics  of  Wilhelmine  and  Frederic,  were 
one  to  forget  the  strange  circumstances  under  which  they 
grew  up.  These  were  so  entirely  opposite  to  the  strict  puri- 
tanical orthodoxy  of  the  Court,  and  of  the  existing  state  of 
society  and  learning  of  that  day. 

Frederic  William,  the  Great  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  had, 
after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  allowed  the 
exiled  Protestants  from  France  to  take  refuge  in  his  do- 
minions. A  large  number  of  these  refugees  came  to  Berlin 
and  there  founded  the  still  flourishing  French  colony.  The 
French  brought  fresh  industries  into  the  country,  as  well  as 
new  ideas  and  a  new  spirit  altogether.  The  simple  matter  of 
fact  people  of  the  province  of  Brandenburg,  who  loved  to 
examine  everything  minutely  and  to  distinguish  between 
reality  and  fiction,  found  totally  new  elements  amongst 
them.  The  French  influence  seemed  to  sharpen  their  hitherto 
somewhat  phlegmatic  natures,  and  really  brought  their  finer 
and  nobler  instincts  to  light.  The  German  disposition  united 
to  French  culture  supplemented  each  other.  Wilhelmine  and 
her  brother,  who  were  born  in  Brandenburg  and  educated  by 


14  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

such  French  emigrants  as  Madame  de  Rocoule,  Mademoiselle 
de  Montbail,  M.  Diihan,  and  La  Croze,  are  the  brilliant  and 
striking  examples  of  that  German  and  French  fusion.  They 
can  be  looked  upon  as  the  first  representatives  of  that 
particular  school  of  thought,  which  as  yet  stands  alone  in 
Germany. 

Wilhelmine's  and  Frederic's  first  acquaintance  with  Vol- 
taire's writings  (which  adorned  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century)  was  made,  without  doubt,  during  their  secret  hours 
of  study.  We  can  picture  to  ourselves  the  eagerness  with 
which  they  read  the  "  Henriade."  In  what  contrast  those 
elegant  graceful  verses  stood  to  those  in  the  old  German 
Hymn  Book,  which  they  were  obliged  to  sing  twice  each 
Sunday.  What  a  difference  was  there  in  the  fine  poetry  of 
the  "  OEdipe  "  when  compared  with  that  of  the  coarse  Ger- 
man comedies,  which  they  were  so  often  forced  to  witness  in 
the  King's  presence  !  What  life  and  fire  was  there  not  con- 
tained in  Voltaire's  commentaries  on  English  philosophers  ! 
The  liberty  of  thought  of  such  men  as  Newton,  Locke,  Pope, 
stood  out  brilliantly  when  contrasted  with  the  narrow-minded 
orthodox  teaching  of  Pastor  Franke,  from  Halle,  whose 
religious  services  the  Royal  children  had  to  attend.  In  one 
word,  the  totally  new  line  of  thought  disclosed  to  them  was 
contained  in  the  one  name,  Voltaire  ! 

The  commencement  of  Frederic  the  Great's  intercourse 
with  the  great  French  author  dates  from  the  well  known 
letter  of  the  8th  of  August,  1736.  This  letter  contained  a 
complete  declaration  of  his  views  on  modern  thought,  and 
closed  with  an  invitation  to  Rheinsberg.  Frederic  was  only 
twenty-four  years  of  age  at  that  time.  Voltaire  felt  himself 
greatly  flattered  by  the  homage  paid  him  by  the  young 
Prince  in  this  letter.  "  He  is  a  philosophical  Prince,  he  is 
a  man,  and  therefore  a  most  rare  thing,"  he  wrote  to  one  of 
his  friends.  He  was  naturally  at  no  small  pains  to  make  this 
as  public  as  possible,  so  that  it  even  got  into  some  German 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  15 

newspapers.  Of  these  newspapers  the  "  Nuremberg  Peace 
and  War  Courier  "  was  the  most  important,  and  Frederic 
evidently  alludes  to  its  Editor  when,  in  writing  to  his  sister, 
3rd  February,  1737,  he  says :  "  I  do  not  know  how  I  have 
managed  to  insinuate  myself  into  the  good  graces  of  the 
'  Nuremberg  Courier,'  but  it  does  me  great  honour  in  crying 
me  up  in  this  manner.  I,  who  am  but  an  ignorant  man,  and 
who  have  no  other  merit  but  that  of  not  being  blind  about 
myself .  Voltaire  is  corresponding  with  me,  which  may  have 
caused  people  to  think  that  he  was  coming  here."  This  is 
the  first  allusion  to  the  famous  author.  After  a  most  lively 
correspondence  between  the  Crown  Prince  and  Voltaire, 
for  a  space  of  four  years,  the  long  desired  personal  acquaint- 
ance took  place  at  the  Castle  of  Moyland,  near  Wesel,  in 
the  autumn  of  1740.  Voltaire  found  his  friend  "  a  small  fever 
stricken  man,  wrapped  in  a  dressing  gown  of  coarse  blue 
cloth."  "  Monsieur  de  Voltaire,"  announced  the  servant,  as 
he  ushered  him  into  the  King's  presence.  At  last  the  long 
wished  for  moment  had  arrived,  and  Voltaire  was  there  ! 
"  The  hope  of  mankind  "  and  this  frail  young  man,  "  the 
Solomon  of  the  North,"  struck  down  by  fever,  are  together  ! 
Had  the  King  expected  to  find  "  the  hope  of  mankind  "  so 
feeble  and  wizen  ;  had  the  poet  pictured  to  himself  "  the 
Solomon  of  the  North  "  so  small  a  man,  with  such  meagre 
surroundings  ?  Who  can  tell !  The  room  in  which  the  King 
was  sitting  consisted  of  four  bare  walls,  lit  by  a  single  candle. 
The  demons  of  fever  fled  as  quickly  at  the  sight  of  the  son  of 
Apollo,  as  they  did  four  weeks  later  when  the  King  heard 
of  the  death  of  the  last  of  the  Hapsburgs,  26th  October, 
1740. 

Voltaire's  second  visit  followed  quickly  on  the  first.  On 
the  21st  November  of  the  same  year,  he  again  arrived  at 
Rheinsberg,  nominally  to  report  on  the  publication  of  the 
"  Antimachiavelli,"  but  in  reality  sent  by  the  French 
Cardinal  Minister  Fleury. 


16  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

The  King  was  having  fortresses  erected  on  the  Rhine, 
and  this  was  making  the  old  gentleman  in  purple,  at  Paris, 
unnecessarily  uneasy ;  for,  though  the  King  was  moving 
troops  to  the  Rhine,  he  was  thinking  of  Silesia.  The 
French  Envoy  at  Berlin,  Marquis  de  Beauvean,  could  gain  no 
information  in  the  matter.  What  it  was  impossible  for  a 
diplomate  to  discover,  a  friend  might  possibly  extract  from 
the  King.  Voltaire  would  have  been  the  happiest  of  mortals 
could  he  one  day,  were  it  even  at  the  smallest  court,  be 
received  as  Envoy  Extraordinary  of  his  most  Catholic 
Majesty.  Even  towards  "  the  hope  of  mankind  "  Frederic 
maintained  his  silence  on  the  matter.  It  was  probably  to 
evade  the  renewed  careful  enquiries  of  his  friend  that  the 
King  one  evening  interrupted  their  conversation,  and  taking 
Voltaire  by  the  hand,  led  him  up  to  a  lady  with  these  words, 
"  I  here  present  you  to  my  beloved  sister."  This  lady  was 
of  graceful  stature,  with  a  small  and  delicately-modelled  head, 
a  marvellously  white  and  transparent  complexion.  This 
lady,  whose  large  blue  eyes  must  have  sparkled  with 
enthusiastic  interest  at  beholding  the  great  genius,  whose 
small  and  generally  somewhat  mocking  mouth  must  have 
uttered  words  of  admiration  to  the  learned  philosopher  in  his 
own  tongue,  was  the  Margravine  of  Baireuth. 

Rheinsberg  was  built  by  the  Crown  Prince  Frederic.  Tt  is 
situated  amidst  lakes,  small  hills,  and  beechwoods,  twelve 
miles  from  Berlin.  A  life  of  complete  freedom,  and  at  the 
same  time  of  thorough  enjoyment,  was  led  there.  Here  the 
"  nuits  blanches  "  of  Sceaux  *  were  repeated,  only  with  this 
difference,  that  no  conspiracies  were  formed,  excepting 
against  boredom.     It  was  as  if  Watteau  t  and  Lancret,  + 

*  Festivities  given  at  night  by  the  Duchessedu  Maine,  at  Sceaux,  a  small 
town  south  of  Paris.  Voltaire  played  a  great  part  in  these  entertainments 
as  actor. 

f  Jean  Antoine  Watteau,  famous  French  painter,  born  1684,  died  1721. 

I  Nicolas  Lancret,  French  painter,  born  1690,  died  1743. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  17 

with  whose  works  the  castle  was  filled,  had  hid  themselves 
amongst  the  bushes  and  found  here  the  subjects  for  their 
pictures.  Lakes,  gardens,  pavilions,  grottoes,  hermitages, 
gay  cavaliers,  beautiful  ladies,  singing,  dancing,  and  playing, 
— such  were  the  scenes  at  Rheinsberg. 

When  evening  comes,  with  the  rough  and  chilly  autumn 
air  so  common  to  that  part  of  Grermany,  the  candles  are 
lit  in  the  Queen's  apartments,  beautifully  decorated  by 
Pesue.*  The  King,  who  has  all  day  sat  brooding  over 
serious  undertakings  against  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  now 
makes  his  appearance.  The  concert  begins ;  the  King  leads 
the  Margravine  to  the  piano,  and  then  takes  his  flute. 
During  the  pauses  between  the  different  pieces,  the  Mar- 
gravine holds  philosophic  and  other  discussions  with  Mau- 
pertuis.f  Algarotti,J  Jordan,  and  Keyserling,  but  chiefly 
with  Voltaire,  whose  society  was  so  new,  interesting,  and 
invigorating. 

How  many  interests  these  two  have  in  common !  One  can 
almost  hear  the  Margravine  asking  Voltaire  what  he  thought 
of  his  relations  to  the  Court  of  Versailles,  of  Louis  XV, 
Madame  de  Pompadour,  and  Cardinal  Fleury ;  did  he 
prefer  Lecouvreur  §  to  Clairon  in  tragedy ;  whose  music 
was  the  deepest,  Hasse  II  or  Gbraun ;  at  what  results  had  he 
arrived  from  his  studies  of  Newton ;  what  was  his  opinion 


*Antoine  Pesue,  born  at  Paris,  1684;  died  at  Berlin,  1757;  portrait 
painter. 

f  Pierre  Louis  Morraude  Maupertuis,  celebrated  French  mathematician, 
born  1698,  died  1759. 

X  Francesco,  Count  Algarotti,  Italian  physiologist,  born  1712,  died  1764. 

§  Adrienne  Lecouvreur,  celebrated  French  actress,  born  1690,  died 
1730. — Clairon,  great  French  tragedian,  born  1723,  died  28th  January, 
1803. 

||  Hasse,  German  composer,  born  1699,  died  1783. — Graun,  celebrated 
German  composer,  born  1701,  died  1759. 

C 


18         CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

of  Wolff,*  her  brother's  master  in  philosophy,  of 
Descartes,t  whose  views  she  has  subscribed  to.  What 
delightful,  never  to  be  forgotten  days ;  but  with  them  the 
splendour  of  Rheinsberg  vanished !  It  was  the  real  Sans 
Souci  of  the  great  King,  and,  strange  to  say,  he  never  saw  it 
again  in  later  years. 

*  Caspar  F.   Wolff,   German    anatomist  and  physiologist,  born    1733, 
died  1794. 

f  R6ne  Descartes,  famous  French  philosopher,  born  1596,  died  1650. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  19 


CHAPTER  II. 

Voltaire  spent  another  fortnight  at  Berlin  with  the  King 
and  his  sister,  and  then  returned  to  Brussels  to  the  Marquise 
du  Chatelet.  Although  he  left  laden  with  honours,  he  did 
so  empty  handed  as  regarded  any  knowledge  of  Frederic's 
political  plans.  The  Margravine  did  not  return  to  Baireuth 
till  after  the  conquest  of  Silesia,  and  Frederic's  return  to 
Berlin  on  June  5th,  1741. 

The  impressions  made  on  Wilhelmine  by  her  intercourse 
with  "Voltaire  were  lasting  ones.  A  year  after  a  parcel 
reached  Cirey  or  Brussels,  evidently  in  remembrance  of  the 
first  meeting.  It  contained  a  present,  and  was  accompanied 
by  a  letter  from  the  Margravine's  private  secretary,  Mons.  de 
Superville,  or  "  the  philosopher  Superville,"  as  Voltaire 
called  him.  Who  was  there  who  was  not  a  philosopher  in 
the  eighteenth  century  ?  Philosophy  was  then  the  fashion 
as  to-day  the  sciences  are,  and  as  everybody  deems 
himself  well  up  in  natural  physics  who  knows  that  fire  is 
not  a  substance  but  a  power.  In  this  manner  all  then 
believed  themselves  philosophers  who  had  not  faith  in  the 
biblical  devil. 

The  present  sent  Voltaire  by  the  Margravine,  as  well  as 
the  letter  from  her  doctor,  Superville  (the  same  to  whom 
the  latter  gave  the  manuscript  of  her  celebrated  Memoirs), 
received  no  acknowledgment.  It  may  be  that  she  gave 
some  sign  of  astonishment,  perhaps  through  M.  de  Superville. 
At  the  beginning  of  October,  the  first  letter  written 
by  the  poet  himself  arrived  at  the  Castle  of  Baireuth. 
Voltaire  was  then  at  Brussels,  where  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  going  from  time  to  time  with  the  Marquise  du  Chatelet. 

c  2 


20  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

He  had  gone    from    there  to  Aix-la-Chapelle  to  pay  his 
respects  to  his  royal  friend,  the  hero   of    Mollwitz  *  and 

Czaslov.f 

Pity  me,  thou  hast  moved  in  Pallas'  train  ; 
I  mourn  a  terrible  mishap  to  wit: 
That  sixty  verses  in  thine  honour  writ 
Are  lost  for  ever,  and  beyond  regain. 


'Tis  sometimes  thus,  when  a  poor  mortal  lies 
With  outstretched  hands  and  spirit  wrapt  in  prayer 
At  the  high  Altar's  base ;  then  murm'ring  tries, 
In  accents  cold,  to  raise  an  anthem  there, 
That  Satan  bars  all  roads  to  Paradise, 
And  heart's  desires  are  melted  into  air. 


Brussels, 

26tft  Sept.,  1742. 

Your  Royal  Highness  sees  that  such  is  my  destiny  in 
regard  to  herself.  About  a  year  ago,  I  received  a  very  charm- 
ing little  packet  from  you,  accompanied  by  a  letter  from 
the  philosopher  M.  de  Superville.  I  was  just  starting  for 
Paris  when  I  received  this  proof  of  your  gracious  favour.  I 
call  Apollo,  the  nine  muses  and  the  great  goddess  of  gratitude 
to  witness,  that  during  my  journey  I  composed  a  great  num- 
ber of  indifferent  verses,  to  which  on  my  arrival  at  Paris,  I 
added  four  pages  of  prose.  This  large  parcel  I  myself  took 
to  the  chief  post  office  in  Paris  and  registered  it  with  such 
care  that  they  evidently  believed  that  it  contained  great 
secrets.  The  curious  will  doubtless  have  been  disappointed, 
but  I,  Madame,  am  still  more  so,  through  what  I  learn  to-day. 
I  am  informed  that  your  Royal  Highness  has  neither  received 
the  verses  nor  the  prose  ;  and  you  have  therefore  every  reason 


*  The  Battle  of  Mollwitz,  fought  during  the  First  Silesian  War,  10th 
April,  1741.     Frederic  the  Great's  first  great  victory  over  the  Austrians. 
t  Battle  of  Czaslov,  fought  17th  May,  1742. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  21 

to  consider  me  a  barbarian,  idle  and  devoid  of  any  knowledge 
of  my  first  duties. 

Do  me  justice,  Madame,  consider  how  impossible  it  is  for 
me  even  to  forget  your  many  favours,  and  believe  that  not 
only  had  I  done  myself  the  honour  of  writing  to  your  Royal 
Highness,  but  that  I  would  have  come  to  your  own  country, 
personally  to  thank  you — had  fate  permitted  me  to  undertake 
so  pleasant  a  journey.  No,  Madame,  I  shall  ever  remember 
the  Princess,  the  Philosopher,  the  Patron  of  Art,  the  accom- 
plished Musician,  and  the  example  of  perfect  courtesy  and 
affability.  The  King,  your  most  august  and  amusing  brother, 
commanded  me  not  long  ago,  to  pay  him  my  court  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle.  He  was  well  and  looking  like  a  hero,  making  fun 
of  his  doctors  and  taking  the  baths  for  his  amusement.  I 
found  him  unaltered,  except  in  face.  The  last  time  I  saw 
him,  two  years  ago,  it  was  thin  from  the  effects  of  fever ;  it 
has  now  grown  quite  round,  which  well  becomes  a  crown  of 
laurels.  Two  more  victories  have  not  made  him  less  humane 
or  less  amiable.  I  shall  never  cease  to  regret  those  days 
when  I  had  the  honour  of  paying  my  respects  to  your  Royal 
Highness  and  to  His  Majesty,  at  your  retreat  at  Rheinsberg. 
The  kindness  shown  to  me  by  the  Margrave  will  ever  be 
present  to  me,  and  all  that  I  most  desire,  is  that  I  may  once 
more  be  permitted  during  my  life  to  enjoy  the  same  honour. 

I  am  with  the  profoundest  respect, 
Madame, 

Of  your  Your  Royal  Highness, 

The  very  humble  and  very  obedient 
Servant, 

Yoltaire. 

It  seemed  like  the  irony  of  fate  that  the  Margravine  should 
always  meet  Voltaire  when  he  was  suffering  from  one  of  his 
diplomatic  paroxysms.    The  great  statesman  Richelieu  always 


22  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

desired  to  be  a  great  poet,  whilst  the  famous  author  Voltaire 
aspired  to  be  a  distinguished  statesman,  and  consequently  both 
failed  signally  in  what  they  attempted  to  be.  It  was  one  of 
these  efforts  at  diplomacy  which  brought  Yoltaire  to  Berlin  in 
August,  1743,  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  Frederic  the 
Great  to  take  part  in  the  Austrian-Bavarian  war  of  succes- 
sion.* He  was  to  place  an  army  at  the  disposal  of  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria,  the  unfortunate  German  Emperor,  Charles  VII, 
and  his  allies  the  French  Ministers  Amelot  and  Maurepas. 
The  King  had  however  not  the  slightest  intention  of  med- 
dling in  this  business.  When  Voltaire  laid  his  proposals 
before  him,  the  King  laughed  at  him  and  suggested  that, 
instead  of  acting  the  part  of  a  diplomatic  agent,  he  should 
accompany  him  to  Baireuth.  This  indeed  was  a  more  fitting 
occupation  for  the  great  author.  Frederic  had  a  political 
project  in  view,  but  it  was  not  one  which  agreed  with  France's 
propositions.  He  wished  to  form  a  confederation  of  German 
Princes  to  uphold  the  weak  Charles  VII  against  Austria. 
For  this  purpose  he  made  a  digression  to  Anspach,  where  he 
hoped  to  meet  the  Prince  Bishop  of  Wurzburg,  in  order  to 
sound  him  as  to  the  views  held  by  the  Franconian  Princes 
with  reference  to  his  project.  Voltaire  remained  behind  at 
Baireuth.  The  King  could  not  have  ventured  to  have  taken 
him  from  the  midst  of  such  attractions  as  were  offered  to  Mm 
at  the  hands  of  a  Royal  Lady.    There  was  at  Baireuth  besides 

*  After  the  death  of  Charles  VII,  Emperor  of  Germany,  the  Elector, 
Charles  Albert  of  Bavaria,  in  virtue  of  his  relationship  to  the  Emperor 
Joseph  I,  and  in  consequence  of  a  supposed  clause  in  Emperor  Ferdinand  I's 
will,  laid  claim  to  the  greater  part  of  the  Austrian  dominions.  He  made  war 
against  Maria  Theresa  with  the  help  of  a  French  army,  had  himself 
crowned  King  of  Bohemia  in  1741,  and  even  in  1742  at  Frankfort  as  Em- 
peror of  Germany,  under  the  name  of  Charles  VII.  The  Austrians  mean- 
while occupied  Bavaria.  On  Charles  VII's  return  to  Munich  he  died,  1745. 
His  son  Maximilian  III  made  peace  with  Austria  at  Fiissen,  acknowledged 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction  and  received  back  his  Bavarian  territories  taken  by 
Austria. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  23 

the  Margravine,  the  Duchess  of  Wurtemberg,  who  became 
later  on  mother-in-law  to  Wilhelmine's  daughter.  She  was  a 
woman  of  some  cultivation  but  of  rather  extraordinary  man- 
ners, and  she  spent  the  nights  at  Baireuth  in  secretly  making 
a  copy  of  "La  Pucelle."  Wilhelmine  had  assembled  numerous 
young  ladies  about  her,  who  had  probably  read  less  of 
Voltaire's  works  than  would  account  for  the  admiration  and 
courtesy  with  which  they  surrounded  him. 

It  is  easily  to  be  believed  that  the  Margravine  should  have 
written  to  the  King  at  Anspach,  "  He  is  in  the  best  humour 
possible,"  for  such  feminine  worship  was  much  to  Voltaire's 
taste.  Although  the  Princes  Augustus  "William  of  Prussia 
and  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick  had  remained  at  Baireuth,  yet 
Voltaire  was  the  king  of  all  the  brilliant  festivities.  Wilhel- 
mine had  naturally  done  her  utmost  to  make  the  visit  of  her 
guests  as  pleasant  and  enjoyable  as  possible.  She  may  too 
have  been  anxious  to  show  her  family  that,  although  she  had 
given  up  all  thoughts  of  greatness  and  splendour,  it  was  yet 
possible  for  her  in  so  remote  a  part  of  Germany  to  enjoy  to 
the  full  the  pleasures  of  life. 

The  Margravine's  guests  remained  a  fortnight  at  her  Court ; 
it  was  the  first  and  only  time  that  Voltaire  ever  was 
at  Baireuth.  Yet  these  days,  spent  in  friendly  and  in- 
tellectual intercourse  with  Wilhelmine,  shed  a  purifying  light 
over  the  rest  of  his  life.  The  impressions  Baireuth  made  on 
Voltaire  can  be  compared  to  those  which  a  hidden  and  beau- 
tiful valley  makes  on  him  who  has  been  continually  tempest 
tossed  on  life's  stormy  seas.  "  Baireuth  is  a  delicious  retreat," 
Voltaire  writes  to  Maupertuis  on  the  16th  October,  1743, 
"  where  one  can  enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  a  court,  without 
being  inconvenienced  by  its  grandeur." 

It  was  a  necessity  with  Voltaire  to  have  the  devotion  of  a 
woman.  First  of  all  it  was  actresses  who  fulfilled  this  duty, 
and  later  on  the  Marquise  du  Chatelet.  "  Uranie  "  as  he 
called  her  in  the  letter  which  he  addresses  to  her  at  the  com- 


24         CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

mencement  of  his  "  Elements  de  la  Philosophie  de  Newton." 
Her  ruling  passions  were  Voltaire  and  Algebra.  On  his  side 
there  was  less  enthusiasm,  at  first  Voltaire  probably  cared  for  the 
Marquise  more  out  of  curiosity — a  mathematical  mistress  was 
something  new  and  interesting — than  from  habit.  "  La 
sublime  Emilie"  was  of  a  very  jealous  nature.  Although 
outwardly  no  longer  resembling  an  angel,  she  drove  all  other 
feminine  influence  out  of  her  paradise  with  a  flaming  sword. 
Only  the  good-natured  Madame  de  Grraffigny,  the  authoress 
of  the  "Lettres  Peruviennes"  and  other  less  important  works 
was  tolerated  at  Cirey.  She  was  however  no  longer  a 
dangerous  rival,  being  fifty-six.  This  is  the  reason  of  the 
somewhat  singular  fact,  that  during  the  Cirey  period 
Voltaire's  correspondence  with  women  was  far  more  rare  than 
before  and  after  that  time.  The  death  of  the  Marquise  at 
Luneville,  10th  September,  1749,  was  a  great  turning  point 
in  Voltaire's  life.  What  attraction  was  there  now  to  keep 
him  in  his  own  country,  and  prevent  his  accepting  the 
tempting  proposals  of  his  Royal  friend,  which  had  for 
thirteen  years  been  so  often  repeated  and  of  late  still  more 
urgently?  Was  it  perhaps  the  persecutions  of  the  Jesuits, 
or  the  dislike  of  Louis  XV,  or  the  attacks  of  envious  and 
spiteful  authors  ?  Voltaire  saw  how,  in  his  own  fatherland, 
a  great  country  was  sinking  into  ruin,  through  the  mis- 
management of  a  bad  government,  whilst  in  Prussia  he  saw 
a  state  rising  up  to  power  and  importance  through  the  wise 
rule  of  its  Sovereign !  Voltaire  longed  for  a  peaceful  and 
quiet  asylum.  Sans  Souci  offered  him  rest,  honour,  liberty — 
a  new  life.  With  what  pride  must  he  have  heard  the  loud 
whispers  of  admiration  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  public 
appearance  at  a  great  fete  at  Berlin,  on  the  25th  September, 
1750.  This  brilliant  entertainment,  which  took  place  in  the 
Lust  Grarten  (pleasure  garden),  of  Berlin,  illuminated  by 
30,000  coloured  lamps,  was  given  in  honour  of  the  Margravine 
of  Baireuth.      Voltaire  and  Wilhelmine  had  not  met  for 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH. 


25 


seven  years,  nor  had  they  corresponded  together  except 
through  third  persons  such  as  M.  de  Superville.  During 
the  Margravine's  visit  of  three  months  at  Berlin  and  Potsdam 
(from  August  8th  till  November  26th),  their  acquaintance 
became  more  intimate,  their  relations  closer,  and  their 
correspondence  a  regular  one. 

Wilhelmine  was  no  longer  a  happy  wife  since  she  had 
made  the  painful  discovery  that  her  husband's  affections 
had  been  stolen  from  her  by  one  of  her  own  ladies,  and  this 
the  one  she  had  loved  and  favoured  the  most.  Even 
Descartes'  "  Idees  innees  "  could  not  help  her  to  overcome 
this  first  bitter  sorrow.  She  had  to  battle  it  out  alone  ! 
Who  knows  if  she  would  not  gladly  have  sacrificed  all  her 
learning  in  exchange  for  one  sign  of  affection  from  her 
husband!  Hers  was  not  a  demonstrative  nor  exacting 
nature,  but  it  was  one  which  needed  love  and  affection. 
After  many  a  bitter  struggle  she  resigned  herself  to  her  fate. 

Many  changes  had  taken  place  in  Wilhelmine's  character 
during  the  last  seven  years.  Sorrow  and  trouble  had  made 
her  richer  in  experience ;  intellectual  intercourse  became  a 
greater  want,  and  intimate  friends  found  her  far  more 
communicative.  The  Margravine  conversed  openly  with 
Voltaire  on  all  details  connected  with  her  family  life.  The 
elasticity  of  youth  was  past  and  gone,  Wilhelmine  required 
society  and  companionship,  and  as  she  could  not  find  these  at 
Baireuth,  Voltaire  undertook  to  procure  her  both.  He  first 
of  all  sent  the  actor  Heurtand,  to  augment  the  French 
troupe  at  Baireuth.  This  actor  had  played  with  Lekain  on 
Voltaire's  own  theatre  at  Paris,  especially  built  for  the 
representations  of  the  author's  own  works.  The  court  at 
Baireuth  kept  up  an  Italian  Opera  and  French  Comedy ; 
Consuelo*  and  Lekain  had  both  acted  there.     The  Margrave 


A  famous  Italian  singer. 


26  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

Frederic  had  built  an  Opera  House,  the  size  and  splendour  of 
which  still  now  create  admiration,  and  once  caused  Frederic 
the  Great  to  ask  his  brother-in-law  where  he  had  taken  the 
money  from  wherewith  to  build  it.  It  would  have  been 
more  appropriate  to  have  asked  where  the  audience  was  to 
come  from,  to  fill  such  a  large  house.  Not  only  actors  were 
sent  to  that  lovely  residence  in  the  valley  of  the  Main,  but 
also  other  personages  of  interest. 

"  The  Margravine  wishes  to  attract  Madame  de  Graffigny 
"  to  her  court,"  Voltaire  writes  to  his  niece,  Madame  Denis, 
on  22nd  August,  1750,  "and  I  have  besides  suggested  the 
"  Marquis  d'Adhemar  to  her.  There  is  no  room  for  him 
"  here  in  the  army,  he  ought  at  least  to  speak  German  well, 
"  and  this  would  be  the  least  of  the  difficulties.  To  my 
"  mind  he  could  do  nothing  better  during  this  time  of  peace 
"  than  to  attach  himself  to  the  Court  of  Baireuth.  Most  of 
"  the  German  courts  resemble  in  fact  that  of  the  old  Palatine, 
"  at  any  rate  during  the  time  of  the  tournaments.  They  are 
"  old  castles  where  one  endeavours  to  spend  a  pleasant  and 
"  enjoyable  life.  Beautiful  ladies  are  to  be  seen,  and  elegant 
"cavaliers.  Jugglers  are  sent  for,  and  there  is  an  Italian 
"  Opera  and  a  French  Theatre  at  Baireuth,  also  a  fine 
"  Library,  of  which  the  Princess  makes  good  use.  I  think  it 
"  will  be  a  bargain  for  which  both  sides  can  be  grateful  to 
"  me.  With  respect  to  Madame  '  La  Peruvienne,'  she  will 
"  be  more  difficult  to  transplant.  She  has  become  at  home  in 
"  Paris,  is  well  thought  of  there,  and  has  friends  whom  at 
"  her  age  one  dislikes  giving  up."  It  may  be  that  Voltaire 
did  not  wish  to  see  Madame  de  Graffigny  hold  an  appoint- 
ment about  the  Margravine.  The  "Peruvian"  friend  had 
been  witness  of  many  scenes  at  Cirey,  between  the  poet  and 
his  beloved  "Uranie,"  which  he  probably  did  not  wish 
spoken  about,  and  it  seems  that  Madame  de  Graffigny  was 
very  fond  of  talking.  The  words  quoted  from  Voltaire's 
letter  are  like   a  slight    hint   sent  to  Paris,  and  Madame 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH. 


27 


Denis'  answer  may  have  been  somewhat  to  the  same  effect, 
for  the  letter  written  by  Voltaire  to  the  Margravine  (bearing 
no  date  of  any  kind)  would  lead  one  to  infer  that  he  had 
arranged  matters  as  he  wished.  This  letter  must  have  been 
written  in  September,  1750,  as  the  subjects  mentioned  in  it 
are  also  touched  on  in  another  to  Madame  Denis,  where 
Voltaire  mentions  having  acted  the  part  of  Cicero  in  the 
tragedy  of  "  Eome  Sauvee."  This  piece  was  given  several 
times  at  Berlin  after  the  King's  return  from  Silesia  in 
September,  1750.  Another  proof  that  this  letter  must  have 
been  written  about  that  time,  is  contained  in  the  fact  of  the 
poet's  writing  to  his  niece,  Madame  de  Fontaine,  on  the 
23rd  September,  1750,  speaking  of  his  attacks  of  illness 
mentioned  in  the  following  letter. 

Madame, 

I  pray  your  Eoyal  Highness  to  give  up 
Madame  de  Graffigny  ;  she  is  old  and  ailing.  But  you  are 
ill  and  old,  your  Eoyal  Highness  will  reply.  Yes,  Madame  ; 
but  my  feelings  are  still  young,  and  the  King,  your  brother, 
makes  me  grow  younger.  In  a  word,  Madame  de  Graffigny 
does  not  wish  to  leave  Paris,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  leave 
Frederic  the  Great.  In  this  world  each  one  of  us  is 
governed  by  his  own  tastes.  I  will  unearth  some  pleasant 
woman,  neither  young  nor  old,  not  a  mischief-maker,  clever, 
virtuous,  and  of  good  birth,  and  you  shall  have  her  for  a  new 
year's  gift,  as  well  as  a  certain  little  maniac  called  Heurtand, 
who  has  been  retained  by  M.  de  Montperni.  He  makes  you 
roar  with  laughter  in  comedy,  and  shed  tears  in  tragedy. 
No  Eome  is  saved  to-day,  you  must  have  the  King  quite  to 
yourself.  Cicero  is  meanwhile  tormented  by  infernal  pains, 
and  is  therefore  prevented  from  paying  his  court  and  appear- 
ing in  shoes  to-day. 

I  lay  myself  at  your  Eoyal  Highness's  feet. 

Voltaire. 


28         CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

The  Margravine  had  returned  on  the  26th  November, 
1750,  to  her  home.  Voltaire  had  at  last  been  induced  to 
remain  at  Berlin,  near  the  King;  that  is  to  say,  he  had 
always  intended  doing  so  when  he  came  to  Berlin,  but  the 
question  had  arisen  as  to  what  he  was  to  receive  for  doing  so. 
In  order  to  make  his  salary  as  high  a  one  as  possible,  he 
threatened  to  return  to  France,  and  then  to  make  his 
"  pilgrimage  to  Italy,  to  see  St.  Peter's  at  Eome,  the  Pope, 
"  and  the  Yenus  di  Medici."  Voltaire  did  not  go  to  France, 
neither  did  he  ever  see  Italy.  The  King  gave  him  his  order 
"Pour  le  Merite,"  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  Key  of  Office,  and 
a  pension  of  4,000  Thalers;*  and  another  to  Madame  Denis 
of  4,000  "Livres";  besides  this  he  had  apartments,  free 
table,  and  horses  and  carriages  both  at  Berlin  and  at  Potsdam. 
What  could  he  want  more  ? 

The  poet  and  the  Margravine  had  given  each  other  a 
promise  on  taking  leave  to  keep  up  a  regular  correspondence. 
Voltaire  was  the  first  to  begin  it.  He  was  most  anxious  to 
see  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar  appointed  to  the  Court  of 
Baireuth.  We  will  gladly  believe  that  it  was  as  much  in 
the  Margravine's  interest  as  in  that  of  his  friend.  Who, 
after  all,  was  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar  ?  An  acquaintance 
Voltaire  had  made  at  the  Court  of  King  Stanislas  of  Poland, 
at  Luneville,  at  the  time  of  a  curious  intrigue  planned  by 
the  Jesuit  Menon,  confessor  to  the  old  weak-minded  Polish 
King.  This  priest,  jealous  of  the  influence  exercised  over 
the  King  by  the  Marquise  de  Boufflers  (his  favourite),  wished 
to  replace  her  by  the  Marquise  du  Chatelet.  Voltaire  and 
his  "  Uranie  "  came  to  Luneville,  but  instead  of  taking  part 
against  Madame  de  Boufflers  they  became  her  fast  friends  in 
order  to  make  war  on  the  Jesuit  priest. 

It  is  to  be  supposed  that  Voltaire's    acquaintance  with 


£600. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  29 

Adhemar  dates  from  the  year  1749.  We  imagine  the 
friendship  to  have  arisen  in  this  way :  The  Marquis,  who 
belonged  to  one  of  the  oldest  families  of  the  French  nobility, 
being  a  young  man  of  a  poetical  turn  of  mind,  had  been 
eager  to  show  the  celebrated  author  his  admiration  and 
respect.  Voltaire,  who  was  very  susceptible  to  such  atten- 
tions, had  encouraged  Adhemar  to  visit  him  at  Paris.  The 
Marquis  spent  the  winter  of  1749-50  in  the  French  capital,  and 
was  much  at  Voltaire's  house,  where  he  took  part  in  the 
theatrical  representations ;  amongst  others  he  acted  Caesar  in 
"  Rome  sauvee."  Adhemar  seems  to  have  been  a  great 
favourite  not  only  with  the  poet,  but  also  with  his  niece.  A 
picture  of  Madame  Denis  hangs  in  one  of  the  drawing-rooms 
at  Sans  Souci.  She  is  there  represented  as  young  and  pretty, 
with  a  very  winning  expression.  Madame  Denis  courted 
admiration,  and  it  may  be  for  this  reason  that  Voltaire  was  at 
such  great  pains  to  get  the  Marquis  to  Baireuth  and  away 
from  Paris  and  his  niece.  The  little  we  know  of  him,  and 
of  his  relations  to  Voltaire  and  the  Margravine,  would  lead 
us  to  infer  that  his  was  one  of  those  sensitive  amiable 
natures,  that  easily  attached  themselves  to  people,  too  much  a 
man  of  society  ever  to  figure  prominently  in  the  more  impor- 
tant events  of  public  life.  He  was  the  author  of  a  work 
called  the  "  Eloge  historique  de  la  Margrave  de  Baireuth." 

At  the  end  of  the  next  letter,  which  was  sent  from  the 
"  Abbey  of  Sans  Souci "  to  Baireuth,  mention  is  made  of 
Arnaud,  who  was  the  cause  of  all  those  misunderstandings 
which  three  years  later  brought  about  a  complete  rupture 
between  Voltaire  and  Frederic  the  Great.  "  Place  two 
"  women,  two  authors,  and  two  bigots  at  the  end  of  the 
"  world,  there  will  still  be  one  of  them  who  will  play  tricks 
"  to  the  others,"  Voltaire  writes  in  one  of  his  letters,  and  we 
apply  this  sentence  to  himself.  Arnaud,  author  of  the 
comedy  "Le  Mauvais  Riche,"  came  to  Berlin  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Marquis  d'Argens.    "  He  gave  himself  out 


30  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

"  to  be  of  high  rank,"  Voltaire  writes,  "  having  lost  his  titles 
"  of  nobility,  his  poems,  and  the  portraits  of  his  mistresses  on 
"  the  road,  all  of  which  he  had  enclosed  in  his  nightcap." 
When  Yoltaire  appeared  at  Berlin,  Arnand  had  already  been 
established  there  for  eight  months  in  the  capacity  of  literary 
correspondent,  or,   as   Voltaire    called    him,   "the    King's 
"  poem  boy."     The  King  had  some  time  previously,  whilst 
endeavouring  to  disgust  Voltaire  with  his  residence  in  France, 
and  forcing  him  to  come  and  settle  at  Berlin,  sent  a  satire  of 
the  poet's  on  his  old  enemy  "  l'Ancien  Eveque  Mirepoix  "  or 
"  l'Ane  Mirepoix,"  as  he  called  him,  to  the  said  Bishop 
through  Count  Rothenburg.     But  this  had  no  effect ;  Vol- 
taire would  not  leave  France.      The  King  now  thought  of  a 
fresh  way  of  gaining  his  wish,  viz.,  to  praise  another  author's 
poems,  and  this  plan   succeeded   admirably.     Voltaire  ap- 
peared shortly  at  Berlin.   In  some  very  civil  lines  addressed  to 
Arnaud  by  the  King,  Frederic  had  compared  him  to  the  rising, 
and  Voltaire  to  the  setting  sun.    Voltaire  was  furiously  jealous 
of  Arnaud  on  account  of  these  flattering  terms,  and  Arnaud 
was  in  turn  much  offended  witli  Voltaire  on  account  of  the 
distinctions  shown  him  by  the  King.     Arnaud  was  too  vain 
a  creature,  and  possessed  of  too  little  genius  to  understand 
the  appreciation  of  a  greater  one  than  his,  even  though  to  it 
he  owed  much  gratitude.     Voltaire  pretended  that  Arnaud 
was  in  league  with  his  enemies  at  Paris,  and  finally  placed 
the  alternative  before  the  King,  "  Your  Majesty — he  or  I  ?  " 
Frederic  reflected,  that  although  he  had  no  cause  of  complaint 
against  Arnaud,  yet  Voltaire  was  of  greater  and  more  prac- 
tical importance  to  him,  therefore  Arnaud  must  be  sacrificed. 
Arnaud  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.     Voltaire  seems  to 
have  felt  something  of  this  kind  himself,  when  he  wrote  to 
his  niece,  "  My  triumph  grieves  me."     Yet  his  cold  calcu- 
lating nature  prevented  his  standing  still  and  considering  the 
possible  results  of  his  conduct ;  he  felt  himself  so  secure  in 
the  King's  favour. 


AKD   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF   BAIREUTH.  31 

Potsdam, 

9th  December,  1750. 
Madame, 

Great  devotion  leads  one  very  far,  and  I  should 
have  had  the  honour  of  following  the  worthy  sister  of  a  hero 
to  Baireuth,  had  not  the  advantages  of  living  near  the  hero 
still  kept  me  at  his  feet.  Your  Eoyal  Highness  knows  that 
I  was  to  start  on  the  15th  December  for  France,  but  how  is 
it  possible  to  have  any  other  Fatherland  but  that  of  Frederic 
the  Great  ?  The  only  grief  one  has,  is  in  no  longer  seeing 
your  Eoyal  Highness  there.  One  is  consoled  by  the  news 
received  of  your  health.  It  is  said  that  it  is  re-established, 
that  you  bore  the  fatigues  of  the  journey  well.  If  your 
Royal  Highness  could  have  a  body  as  perfect  as  your  soul, 
and  health  equal  to  your  beauty,  what  more  could  you  wish  for 
on  earth  ?  Perhaps,  Madame  will  feel  the  desire  of  making 
some  more  people  happy,  and  will  draw  around  her  some 
fresh,  pleasant  companions,  worthy  of  seeing  and  of  listening 
to  her  ? 

As  I  am  unable  to  return  to  Paris  as  early  as  I  intended, 
I  have  entrusted  the  duty  of  finding  a  Lady  of  rank,  a  widow, 
who  is  clever,  literary,  and  fond  of  conversation,  to  my  niece. 
Perhaps  the  desire  of  carrying  out  your  wishes,  will  enable 
her  to  find  that  which  your  Royal  Highness  desires. 
Anyhow,  I  can  assure  you,  that  she  will  do  her  utmost,  and 
that  your  Royal  Highness  can  confidently  accept  what  she 
will  present  to  you.  I  still  think  that  the  Marquis  d'Adliemar, 
who  is  known  at  your  Court,  would  be  a  very  proper  person. 
I  can  answer  for  his  good  sense,  for  his  cleverness,  and  for 
his  worth.  I  do  not  think  the  Margrave  could  make  a  better 
choice,  but  on  this  point  I  shall  await  your  orders.  I  feel 
more  sure  of  the  great  acquisition  which  he  would  be  to  your 
Court,  than  I  do  of  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar's  present 
arrangements,  but  having  had  the  honour  of  approaching 
your  Royal  Highness,  who  could  doubt  his  wish  of  establishing 


82  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

himself  in  her  service.  Deprived  as  I  am  of  the  pleasure 
of  passing  my  life  at  your  feet,  and  at  those  of  the  Margrave, 
I  should  he  happy  if  my  friend  should  be  able  to  do  so. 

You  are  no  doubt  aware,  Madame,  that  the  King  ordered 
d'Arnaud  to  leave  Berlin  at  twenty-four  hours'  notice.  He 
is  now  at  Dresden,  where  he  brags  of  his  successes  at  the 
Court  of  Berlin. 

I  am,  with  the  most  profound  respect,  your  Eoyal 
Highness's  most  humble  and  obedient  servant 

Voltaire. 

The  following  day,  December  10th,  the  Margravine  ful- 
filled her  promise  by  writing  a  letter  to  Voltaire  which 
crossed  his  from  Potsdam.  In  person  she  was  at  the  Castle 
of  Baireuth,  but  in  mind  she  dwelt  in  the  "Abbey"  or 
"  Monastery,"  for  by  this  name  Frederic  the  Great's 
intimate  circle  called  the  Palace  of  Sans  Souci.  It  was 
situated  amidst  terraces  and  vineyards  at  Potsdam.  At  the 
end  of  the  left  wing  of  the  Palace  an  apartment  had  been 
arranged  for  the  King's  favourite.  It  was  full  of  costly 
furniture,  rare  china,  had  a  dressing-table  such  as  Madame 
de  Pompadour  could  scarcely  have  possessed.  In  this  room, 
at  a  gilt  writing  table,  covered  with  blue  velvet,  Voltaire 
worked,  whenever  Frederic  sent  for  him  to  Sans  Souci.  He 
came  there  but  rarely  and  lived  generally  in  the  Castle  at 
Potsdam,  which  is  only  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  walk  from 
Sans  Souci.  His  rooms  in  the  castle  were  directly  under 
those  of  the  King,  and  looked  out  upon  the  "  Lust  Garten," 
the  famous  drill  ground  of  the  Prussian  army.  As  we 
mentioned  before,  Sans  Souci  bore  the  name  of  the  "Abbey  " 
or  "  Monastery."  The  King  was  called  the  "  Prior  "  or 
"  Abbot "  of  this  half  military  and  half  literary  monastery, 
those  around  him  were  the  "  Brother  Monks,"  and  for  this 
reason  also  Voltaire  hereafter  signs  himself  in  his  letters  as 
"  Brother  Voltaire."     Those  members  of  the  "  Brotherhood  " 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  33 

not  actually  at  Sans  Souci  were  called  "  deacons.''  Their 
community  was  called  "  The  Church,"  and  everything  con- 
demned by  the  Church  of  Rome,  they  considered  as  "  Holy." 
This  profanation  of  clerical  institutions,  which  the  reader 
will  often  meet  with  in  the  following  pages,  was  the  outcome 
of  the  prevailing  opinions  and  tone  of  the  times.  It  was  the 
natural  reaction  after  the  exclusive  dominion  and  tyrannical 
oppressions  which  the  Church's  authority  had  exercised  over 
all  minds  up  to  this  time.  In  no  other  place  in  Europe, 
during  the  years  preceding  the  Seven  Years'  War,  was  this 
revolutionary  process  against  old  institutions  and  the  substi- 
tution of  new  ones  so  marked  and  characteristic  as  at  Sans 
Souci. 

10th  December,  1750. 

I  promised  you,  Sir,  to  write  to  you,  and  I  keep  my  word. 
I  trust  our  correspondence  will  not  be  as  meagre  as  are  our 
two  persons,  and  that  you  will  often  give  me  cause  to  reply 
to  you.  I  will  not  speak  to  you  of  my  regrets ;  it  would 
only  be  renewing  them.  I  am  constantly  transported  to 
your  Abbey,  and  you  will  understand  that  he  who  is  its 
abbot  occupies  me  always.  I  have  executed  your  commis- 
sions with  the  Margrave.  He  desires  me  to  assure  you  of 
his  friendship,  and  begs  you  will  conclude  matters  regarding 
the  Marquis  d'Adhemar.  He  will  be  charmed  to  take  him 
in  his  service,  as  Chamberlain,  and  will  make  him  con- 
ditions with  which  he  can  be  satisfied.  Although  your 
recommendation  suffices  to  the  Margrave,  it  will  be  necessary 
for  the  satisfaction  of  the  Marquis  to  have  one  either  from 
Mons.  de  Puisieulx  or  from  Mons.  d'Argenson,  which  he 
could  produce  at  Court.  I  should  be  much  obliged  to  you  if 
you  would  persuade  him  to  come  here  soon,  where  we  have 
great  need  of  help  to  fill  up  the  gaps  in  the  conversation, 
which  seem  to  be  with  us  very  like  Chinese  music,  in  which 
there  are  long  pauses  ending  up  in  discordant  tones.     I  am 

l) 


34  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

afraid  that  my  letter  suffers  from  it ;  so  much  the  better  for 
you,  Sir.  Some  moments  of  weariness  are  necessary  in  life, 
so  as  to  set  off  to  advantage  those  which  give  pleasure.  After 
reading  this  letter,  the  little  suppers  will  seem  far  more 
agreeable  to  you.  Think  of  me  sometimes,  I  beg  of  you, 
during  them,  and  be  convinced  of  my  perfect  esteem. 

WlLHELMINE. 

In  the  next  letter  from  the  Margravine  (the  third  which 
follows  here)  there  is  a  note  made  at  the  words,  "  I  have 
"  received  your  consoling  epistle."  This  note  is  by  the 
author  of  Voltaire's  published  correspondence,  and  is  as 
follows :  "  Letter  unknown."  We  give  the  letter  here,  which 
is  one  of  the  most  graceful  of  all  those  he  wrote  to  Wil- 
helmine. 

December,  1750. 
Madame, 

Tour  Royal  Highness  is  perfectly  right ;  one 
ought  to  have  a  quiet  peaceable  life. 

Princes  and  monks  have  only  their  lives  in  this  world. 
It  is  not  Regiments  which  constitute  happiness,  but  to  pass 
the  twenty-four  hours  of  the  day  in  quietness,  and  this  is  far 
more  difficult  than  one  would  suppose.  The  Great  Turk  is 
bored  at  Constantinople,  and  yet  it  is  a  beautiful  town.  The 
situation  of  Baireuth  is  not  a  very  cheerful  one,  but  cleverness 
and  affability  embellish  all  things.  "Well  then,  Madame, 
as  it  is  necessary  to  use  "  big  words,"  what  would  you  do 
with  your  intelligence,  and  your  charms,  if  your  Royal 
Highness  had  not  half  a  dozen  people  of  worth  to  be 
influenced  by  them?  It  is  a  very  good  idea  to  add  some 
more  voices  to  your  orchestra.  I  have  written  twice  again 
letters  to  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  but  have  still  no  answer — 
he  must  be  under  the  charm  of  some  Armida.  I  have 
written  a  furious  letter  to  my  niece,  she  must  use  her 
authority,  and  disenchant  Adhemar,  so  as  to  send  him  more 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  35 

enchanted  to  your  feet.     But,  Madame,  it  would  require  two 
Adhemars,  and  two  Graffignys,  as  recruits  to  pleasure. 

I  swear  by  the  devotion  I  bear  to  your  Royal  Highness 
that  had  I  been  able  to  go  to  Paris,  I  should  have  brought 
you  some  recruits,  not  beardless  boys,  not  fools,  composers 
of  high-flown  verses,  but  people  worthy  of  paying  you  their 
court.  Ah  !  Madame,  romances  sometimes  pass  through  my 
mind.  I  say  to  myself :  supposing  that  during  the  months 
of  November,  December,  and  January,  when  the  King  had 
enough  company,  I  could  go  and  pay  my  respects  to  the 
divine  sister !  If  whilst  I  came  there  from  the  East,  my 
niece  should  come  there  from  the  West  ?  And  then  the 
operas,  the  new  dramas,  would  not  that  all  be  far  more  worth 
while  than  going  to  Italy  ?  Madame,  I  would  prefer  you  to 
St.  Peter  at  Rome,  to  the  subterranean  city — to  the  Pope 
himself.  Is  that  possible  ?  I  know  nothing  about  it.  I 
live  from  one  day  to  another,  working  day  and  night  at  the 
century  of  Louis  XIV.  I  am  endeavouring  to  present  a 
great  picture  of  the  revolution  of  the  human  mind,  during 
that  time  when  people  began  to  think,  from  the  Alps  to  the 
Carpathians.  It  may  help  to  amuse  some  of  your  Eoyal 
Highness's  leisure  moments.  But  I  must  get  rid  of  my 
romance  about  Baireuth,  for  to  dream  that  you  possess  a 
treasure,  and  to  wake  up  and  find  oneself  empty-handed,  is 
too  sad. 

I  am  writing  all  this  accompanied  by  the  sound  of  drums, 
of  trumpets,  and  of  incessant  reports  of  firearms,  which 
deafen  my  pacific  ears ;  it  is  good  for  Frederic  the  Great. 
He  requires  his  armies  of  a  morning,  and  Apollo  in  the 
afternoon.  He  possesses  everything  :  he  forms  battalions 
and  composes  rhymes.  As  to  the  rest,  each  brother  is 
peaceably  established  in  his  cell;  M.  de  Rothenbourg  still 
continues  ill,  Maupertuis  also,  Polnitz  is  rather  sad. 

I  am  always  pining  and  sickly — always  working  hard,  and 
always  longing  to  pay  my  respects  to  your  Royal  Highnesses. 

d  2 


36  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

Would  it  be  permitted,  if  not  wanting  in  respect,  to 
beg  that  M.  de  Maupertuis  may  not  be  forgotten.  My 
paper  is  at  an  end,  and  there  is  no  room  for  the  expression 
of  my  profound  respect.     What  does  it  matter  ? 

Voltaire. 

We  shall  often  meet  with  the  name  of  the  Marquis  de 
Montperni  in  the  following  correspondence.  He  was  a 
Frenchman  by  birth,  Lord  Chamberlain  to  the  Margravine, 
and  Director  of  the  Theatre  and  public  works  at  Baireuth. 
He  was  much  esteemed  by  the  Margrave  and  Margravine, 
as  well  as  by  Frederic  the  Great,  for  his  noble  character. 
It  was  to  his  house  that  the  Margravine  was  carried  from 
her  bed  of  sickness  when  the  Castle  of  Baireuth  was  nearly 
burnt  down,  January  26,  1753.  Montperni  accompanied 
the  Margravine  on  her  last  visit  to  Berlin.  It  was  there 
apparently  that  Voltaire  made  his  acquaintance. 

It  was  a  peculiarity  of  Voltaire's  to  speak  in  derision  of 
his  own  ugly  appearance.  He  used  to  compare  himself  in 
this  respect  with  Angelo  Cori,  manager  of  the  Berlin  Opera. 
This  Italian  was  the  ugliest  man  in  all  Berlin,  and  therefore 
often  spoken  of  there  as  "  Angel  Cori."  Hofrath  L. 
Schneider,  in  his  excellent  history  of  the  Berlin  Opera,  gives 
a  description  of  Cori,  according  to  which  Voltaire  certainly 
had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  there  existed  at  least 
one  person  more  frightful  than  himself. 

In  Voltaire's  next  letter  he  makes  mention  of  this  mutual 
ugliness.  The  Margravine  was  at  this  time  occupied  in 
turning  Voltaire's  "  Semiramis  "  into  an  opera.  She  com- 
posed the  music  and  Cori  wrote  the  Italian  libretto,  which 
was  submitted  to  the  poet  for  correction,  although  he 
personally  disliked  the  whole  undertaking.  The  opera  was 
not  to  be  detrimental  to  the  orignal  work,  but  it  could  not 
help  detracting  from  its  interest.  The  tragedy  had  not  been 
well  received  by  the  Berlin  public.    "  Zaire,"  on  the  contrary, 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  37 

which,  strange  to  say,  Voltaire  did  not  think  worth  one  single 
scene  of  "  Rome  Sauvee,"  had  met  with  a  greater  success. 
This  piece  was  given  by  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia's  little 
troupe,  i.e.,  Prince  Augustus  William  and  Prince  Henry, 
Princess  Amelie,  who  acted  the  chief  part,  and  Voltaire,  who 
took  the  part  of  "  the  good  Lusignan."  Perhaps,  on  this 
occasion,  Voltaire  wore  the  diamonds  about  which  he  had  the 
lawsuit  with  the  Jew,  Hirsch.  Lady  Tyrconnel,  wife  of  the 
French  envoy  at  Berlin,  was  "  Andromache,"  but  the  one 
actor  who  seemed  most  at  home  in  his  part  was  the  burly 
Irish  Lord  Tyrconnel.  He  had  nothing  else  to  do  but  to 
sit  at  the  dinner  table.  The  chief  event  of  the  winter 
festivities  was  the  artistic  representation  of  the  opera 
"  Phaeton."  Gxaun  had  composed  the  music  and  directed  it 
in  person,  sitting  at  the  piano  in  a  red  coat,  with  a  white  wig. 
This  opera  enchanted  the  court  and  the  public,  not  so  much 
on  account  of  the  music  and  the  singers,  as  for  the  marvellous 
manner  it  had  been  put  on  the  stage,  a  thing  never  before 
seen  at  Berlin.  Above  all,  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  God, 
composed  of  columns  of  glass,  illuminated  by  numberless 
lamps,  produced  a  dazzling  effect. 

At  Berlin, 

12th  December,  1750. 
Madame, 

Your  Royal  Highness's  commands  have  crossed 
with  the  expression  of  my  homage,  and  whilst  I  was 
placing  myself  at  her  feet  she  was  deigning  to  write  to  me. 
I  was  anxious  for  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar  and  Spada's  sake, 
and  I  would  venture  to  say  also  for  that  of  your  Royal 
Highnesses  that  he  should  be  at  your  Court.  Permit  me, 
Madame,  to  have  the  honour  of  explaining  to  you  that  it  is 
difficult  to  suggest  to  him  to  carry  about  letters  of  intro- 
duction in  his  pocket.  He  is  the  son  of  the  Great  Chamber- 
lain of   King  Stanislas,  and   it   only   depended   on  himself 


38  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

to  become  Chamberlain  at  that  Court  with  every  advantage 
his  birth  and  abilities  could  procure  him.  His  love  of  war 
prevented  his  taking  this  post.  He  is  one  of  the  King  of 
France's  best  officers.  He  was  a  captain  in  the  cavalry ;  he 
had  been  promised  a  regiment,  which  promise  was  never  kept. 
He  was  to  have  been  sent  as  the  King's  minister  to  Brussels  ; 
again  he  was  passed  over. 

This  is  the  situation.  I  imagined  that  his  disappointment 
at  being  useless,  and  the  knowledge  he  has  of  your  Royal 
Highness,  might  induce  him  to  associate  himself  with  your 
Court.  I  must  obtain  your  Eoyal  Highness's  permission  not 
to  speak  with  Mons.  d'Adhemar  till  after  you  have  been  fully 
informed  of  his  worth.  It  will  be  easy  for  the  King's 
minister  to  obtain  this  at  Paris. 

You  can  also,  Madame,  desire  Mons.  d'Ammon,  the  King's 
Chamberlain,  who  is  going  to  France  about  a  Treaty  of 
Commerce,  to  report  to  you  on  Mons.  d'Adhemar,  and  to 
speak  to  the  ministers  about  it,  without  letting  it  be  suspected 
that  he  wishes  to  leave  France. 

Graciously  remember,  Madame,  that  I  have  made  no  pro- 
mises respecting  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  that  I  told  your 
Eoyal  Highness  that  I  would  do  my  utmost  to  get  hold  of 
him  ;  I  still  persist  in  this  wish,  because  I  know  Mons. 
d'Adhemar  is  capable  of  attachment,  and  that  he  is  not  one 
of  those  who  are  likely  to  leave  a  charming  Court  to  go  and 
settle  at  Monaco.  I  shall  await  your  Eoyal  Highness's 
orders  on  this  subject.  I  shall  still  remain  three  months  in 
this  monastery,  where  you  are  regretted  every  day.  I  am 
still  a  monk  at  Berlin,  as  I  was  at  Potsdam,  being  only 
acquainted  with  my  cell  and  with  the  reverend  Father  Abbot, 
near  to  whom  I  wish  to  live  and  die,  and  who  alone  consoles 
me  for  not  passing  my  days  with  your  Eoyal  Highness. 
Tour  monastery  and  his  are  the  only  ones  where  a  soul  like 
mine  can  find  salvation.  I  have  heard  the  service  of 
"Saint  Semiramis"  put  into  verse,  or  something  like  it,  by 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  39 

Brother  Cori,  Chaplain  to  the  Opera.  Sparks  of  that  divine 
fire  which  animate  the  august  Wilhelmine  are  to  be  found 
in  Brother  Cori's  poems.  We  had  a  representation  of 
"  Phaeton  "  yesterday,  and  in  order  to  give  a  truer  idea  of  the 
conflagration  caused  by  this  audacious  personage,  the  scenery 
caught  fire.  The  King  was  slightly  indisposed  and  did  not 
see  the  opera.  Prince  Henry's  little  troupe  are  going  to  give 
"  Zaire,"  but  whilst  amusement  is  prevailing  here,  great 
mortality  rages  among  the  animals ;  the  horses  have  got  the 
plague  in  England ;  mankind  has  it  in  Poland  and  on  the 
frontiers  of  Wallachia. 

Live  happy,  Madame,  and  take  care  of  your  precious 
health,  and  deign  still  to  bestow  your  favours  and  that  of  the 
Margrave  on  me.     I  have  attended  to  your  commands. 

I  renew  to  your  Eoyal  Highnesses  the  expression  of  my 
profound  respect. 

Brother  Voltaire. 


40         CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 


CHAPTEE  III. 

The  Margravine,  it  would  appear,  was  in  singularly  good 
spirits  and  humour  at  this  time.  The  King,  writing  to  his 
sister  on  the  31st  December,  1750,  says,  "  The  only  thing 
which  comforts  me  for  your  absence  is  the  knowledge  of 
your  being  so  well  in  health  and  in  such  good  temper ;  at 
least  so  it  appears  from  your  letter." 

Her  letters  are  full  of  jokes,  and  she  sometimes  seems  to 
go  somewhat  too  far  in  her  love  of  making  witty  remarks. 
One  can  fancy  the  dismay  of  the  old  court  Chaplain  Nol- 
tenius,  before  whom  Wilhelmine  had  made  her  declaration 
of  faith  as  a  child,  could  he  have  heard  his  former  pupil  cite 
St.  Paul  as  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  "  elect  Lady  " 
instead  of  St.  John  !  Such  mistakes  are  pardonable,  but  to 
place  the  epistle  of  one  of  the  Apostles  in  the  same  category 
as  that  of  a  French  author  of  comedies,  and  to  speak  of  the 
miracles  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  a  profane  manner  in  connection 
with  the  birth  of  the  Elector  Frederic  Augustus  of  Saxony, 
was  giving  her  wit  too  much  license. 

The  House  of  Hohenzollern  belonged  to  that  branch  of 
Protestantism  which  owned  the  cold  fanatic  Calvin  as  its 
head.  His  dogmas  were  quite  as  rigid  as  those  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  though  they  lacked  the  attractive  forms  of 
the  latter.  The  devil  played  a  great  part  in  the  religious 
belief,  "  no  devil,  no  God  "  was  its  creed.  Everyone  who 
did  not  believe  in  the  former  was  looked  on  as  a  heretic. 
According  to  this  opinion  the  Margravine  certainly  was  one. 
She  was  averse  to  all  restraint  and  rule  in  matters  of  faith, 
though  she  on  the  other  hand  fully  accepted  our  Saviour's 
teaching  of  love  and  charity.     The  philosophy  of  her  master 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  41 

Descartes  sprang  from  his  belief  in  God  and  led  back  to  Him 
again.  "I  pity  your  blindness  only  to  believe  in  one  God 
and  to  deny  Christ,"  Wilhelmine  writes  to  Voltaire.  Could 
a  true  Christian  have  given  a  more  decided  proof  of  faith 
than  this?  As  to  Voltaire,  the  excesses  which  had  been 
perpetrated  for  ages  under  the  cloak  of  Christianity  had 
raised  doubts  in  his  mind,  and  had  led  him  at  last  to  deny 
the  existence  of  a  Saviour.  It  was  at  this  point  that  Wilhel- 
mine and  Voltaire's  paths  separated. 

In  the  Margravine  and  her  brother  Christian  faith  was 
innate,  but  from  their  earliest  youth  they  had  rebelled  against 
being  forced  to  adhere  to  certain  formulas  laid  down  for  them. 
Their  independent  spirit  and  desire  for  liberty  of  thought 
led  them  to  look  for  a  life-giving  power  in  Christianity,  and 
they  found  only  a  doctrine  of  dead  letters  and  set  forms.  Is  it 
therefore  to  be  wondered  at  that  these  young  minds  should 
have  refused  to  believe  in  what  was  placed  before  them  in  so 
cold  and  unmeaning  a  form,  though  beneath  it  lay  so  much 
hidden  treasure  ?  Is  it  strange  that  they  should  have  be- 
come callous,  nay,  have  begun  to  doubt,  even  to  deny  ?  In 
Frederic's  case  there  was  no  recovery  from  this  state  of  un- 
belief, and  he  sought  compensation  for  it  in  restless  activity. 
With  Wilhelmine,  however,  sorrow,  trouble,  and  the  experi- 
ences of  life  transformed  the  dry  dogmas  into  a  real  and  lively 
faith  which  satisfied  her  longings  and  aspirations.  In  her 
belief  in  Christ  she  found  light,  love,  peace ;  hence  her 
deeply  rooted  hatred  for  all  unchristian  demeanour,  insolent 
bigotry,  fanatical  persecutions,  and  narrow-minded  super- 
stition ;  in  one  word,  for  the  dark  cloud  of  ignorance  which 
lay  over  mankind. 

The  reader  must  not  be  misled  by  a  satirical  remark  here 
and  there :  it  but  represents  a  peculiarity  which  arose,  in  great 
measure,  from  the  prevailing  tone  adopted  by  society.  Let 
us  bear  in  mind  that  one  striking  remark :  "I  pity  your 
blindness  only  to  believe  in  one  God  and  to  deny  Christ." 


42  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

25th  December,  1750. 

Sister  Gruillemette  to  Brother  Voltaire,  greeting :  for  I 
number  myself  among  the  happy  inmates  of  your  Abbey, 
although  I  am  no  longer  there,  and  I  am  counting  much,  if 
(rod  gives  me  a  good  and  long  life,  to  take  my  place  there  again 
one  day.  I  have  received  your  consoling  epistle.  I  swear 
my  biggest  oath,  that  it  edified  me  infinitely  more  than  that 
of  St.  Paul*  to  the  elect  Lady,  which  epistle  caused  me 
to  feel  a  certain  drowsiness  worthy  of  opium,  preventing 
me  seeing  its  beauties.  Yours  had  the  contrary  effect,  it 
roused  me  from  my  lethargy,  and  has  restored  action  to  my 
vital  spirits. 

Although  you  have  postponed  your  journey  to  Paris,  I  hope 
you  will  keep  your  word  and  that  you  will  come  and  see  me. 
Apollo  used  to  familiarize  himself  with  mortals,  and  did  not 
scorn  to  become  a  pastor  in  order  to  instruct  them.  Do  the 
same,  Sir,  you  cannot  follow  a  better  example. 

What  do  you  say  to  the  arrival  of  the  Messiah  at  Dresden  ? 
Will  you  be  able  after  that  to  question  miracles  ?  If  I  had 
been  the  Prince  Royal  of  Saxony  I  would  have  given  the 
whole  honour  to  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  he  thinks  like 
Charles  VI. 

When  the  Empress  gave  birth  to  the  Archduke,  people 
said  that  St.  Nepomuck  had  the  credit  of  it ;  "  God  forbid," 
the  Emperor  said,  "  I  should  then  be  a  cuckold." 

But  let  us  there  leave  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  Messiah. 
Although  he  is  born  to-day,  I  assure  you  I  never  should  have 
thought  of  him,  without  the  marvellous  event  in  Saxony.  I 
prefer  to  think  of  the  "  beaux  esprits  "  of  Potsdam,  of  its 
Abbot  and  its  monks.  In  your  turn,  think  sometimes  of 
those  who  are  absent.  Rely  always  on  me,  as  on  a  true 
friend. 

WlLHELMINE. 
*  The  Margravine  evidently  means  3rd  Epistle  of  St.  John. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  43 


The  Margravine  sends  the  foregoing  letter  in  answer  to 
one  Voltaire  wrote  her  in  December,  1750.  On  the  28th 
December  she  seems  not  yet  to  have  received  the  one  written 
on  19th  December.  To  this  latter  she  sends  the  following 
answer. 

6th  January,  1752. 

I  take  advantage  of  a  moment  remaining  to  me,  to  acquaint 
you,  Sir,  that  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  intends  taking  the 
Marquis  d'Adhemar  into  his  service.  He  became  acquainted 
with  him  at  Paris,  and  I  learned  from  a  gentleman  in  the 
Duke's  suite,  that  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar  proposed  himself 
coming  here.  I  beg  you  to  be  beforehand,  and  to  engage  him 
to  come  soon  to  this  Court.  I  wish  you  perfect  health  during 
this  year.  It  is  the  only  thing  you  lack  to  make  you  happy. 
We  are  acting  here  as  you  are  doing  at  Berlin.  Good  bye. 
I  must  leave  you  to  rehearse  my  part.  Be  persuaded  of  my 
perfect  esteem. 

WlLHELMINE. 

Berlin, 

6th  January,  1751. 
Madame, 

Brother  Yoltaire  has  only  changed  his  cell. 
He  lives  at  Berlin,  as  at  Potsdam,  in  great  retirement, 
thinking  much  of  your  Royal  Highness.  He  promises 
to  come  in  person  to  your  royal  monastery,  to  ask  your 
blessing,  as  soon  as  he  returns  from  that  great  town  of  Paris, 
to  which  he  must  at  last  repair  to  put  his  temporal  affairs  in 
order,  which  he  has  too  long  neglected  for  the  spiritual  ones 
of  the  Rev.  Father  Abbot.  I  am  much  surprised  that  your 
reverence  should  not  have  received  two  letters  from  me 
instead  of  one.  I  certainly  had  the  honour  of  writing  twice 
to  you  from  the  Priory  of  Potsdam.  It  seems  that  heaven 
does  not  favour  the  intercourse  of  such  lax  monks  as  we  are. 
Tour  reverence  makes  some  most  salutary  reflections  on  the 


44  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

last  miracle.  You  know  how  necessary  miracles  sometimes  are. 
"We  formerly  required  a  Virgin  in  France,  and  oftentimes 
the  reverse  was  required  elsewhere.  0  signore,  signore 
figliuoli  in  ogni  tnodo  !  Love  was  the  Holy  Spirit  of  ancient 
days.  It  was  he  who  concerned  himself  in  those  matters. 
In  our  present  times  it  is  the  monks  and  the  saints.  Our 
mythology  is  pitiable  ;  nothing  falls  so  flat  as  what  is  called 
Catholicism. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  commands  your  Royal  Highness 
has  given  me  concerning  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar.  I  have 
written  to  him,  and  shall  do  myself  the  honour  of  reporting 
his  answer.  I  feel  sure  that  he  will  he  most  sensible  of  the 
happiness  of  being  admitted  a  member  of  your  court.  He 
has  a  soul  worthy  of  yours,  and  I  venture  to  say  that  he  is 
just  the  person  made  to  suit  the  Margrave  and  yourself. 
M.  de  Montperni  will  find  in  him  a  most  agreeable  com- 
panion. He  possesses,  besides,  much  taste,  composes  pretty 
verses,  and  he  is  above  all  things  the  most  upright  man  in 
this  world,  as  he  is  the  most  courageous.  It  is  sad  to  be 
obliged  to  speak  to  a  man  with  such  a  character  of  such 
rubbish  as  salary  and  money,  and  it  is  to  sully  the  paper 
and  fatigue  your  Royal  Highness  with  these  nothings,  which 
Sister  Gruillemette  despises  so  thoroughly.  But  these  matters 
being  an  absolute  necessity  in  this  life,  and  as  Kings  as  well 
as  charcoalburners  are  unable  to  do  anything  without  money, 
I  have  mentioned  the  subject  in  my  letter  to  the  Marquis 
d'Adhemar.  I  do  not  think  your  Royal  Highness  will  dis- 
avow me,  and  I  therefore  wrote  that  1500  crowns*  would  be 
about  what  was  necessary.  I  think  that  M.  de  Montperni's 
salary  does  not  amount  to  more,  and  we  must  not  give  any 
cause  for  jealousy,  even  between  persons  who  cannot  be 
jealous.  I  have  considered  your  purse,  and  done  violence  to 
your  generosity  by  proposing  1500  crowns.     It  will  be  only 

*  Quinze  cents  ecus. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  45 

your  Royal  Highness  and  the  Margrave  who  can  scold  me 
for  having  offered  little,  for  my  friend  d'Adhemar  will  not. 
In  a  word,  he  cannot  live  at  a  more  generous  Court,  and 
this  Court  cannot  make  a  more  worthy  acquisition.  I 
wish  he  could  start  with  my  niece  and  me,  but  ah ! 
adorable  Abbesse,  if  we  were  all  three  in  your  convent,  we 
would  wish  never  to  leave  it.  All  the  other  Brothers 
kiss  the  hem  of  your  sacred  robe. 

I  do  not  know  if  M.  de  Montperni  has  received  news  of  a  little 
mad  comic  actor  whom  I  had  procured  as  a  recruit  for  your 
troupe.  I  do  not  quite  know  how  to  call  myself  to  M.  de  Mont- 
perni's  remembrance  ;  one  cannot  take  such  liberties  in  writing 
to  your  Royal  Highness.  I  lay  myself  at  your  Royal  High- 
ness' feet,  and  at  those  of  His  Royal  Highness.  We  acted 
"Zaire"  yesterday.  Prince  Henry  surpassed  himself;  the 
Prince  Royal  spoke  very  distinctly.  Prince  Ferdinand 
softened  his  voice,  Princess  Amelie  displayed  much  tender- 
ness, and  the  Queen-Mother  was  enchanted.  But,  Baireuth, 
Baireuth,  when  shall  I  have  the  happiness  of  witnessing  your 
fetes,  and  above  all  of  admiring,  of  revering,  and  of  daring  to 
adore  from  nearer  that  august  Princess  to  whom  I  present 

my  profound  respects  from  so  far  ? 

Yoltaire. 

23rd  January,  1751. 

I  must  have  explained  myself  very  badly  in  my  last  letter, 
since  you  have  not  understood  the  sense  of  it.  I  was  per- 
haps at  that  moment  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  As  you 
are  not  an  Apostle,  you  found  most  obscure  that  which 
I  thought  perfectly  clear.  I  come  to  the  explanation  of  it. 
The  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  announced  to  me  that  he  had  the 
intention  of  taking  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar  into  his  service. 
I  feared  he  would  inform  you  of  it,  and  asked  you  to  arrange 
in  such  a  way  that  the  Marquis  should  refuse  the  offer  made 
to  him  in  the  Duke's  name.     The  Margrave  will  not  disavow 


46  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

you  respecting  the  fifteen  hundred  crowns  which  you  have 
offered  him  as  salary.  I  beg  you  to  hurry  on  this  business, 
and  to  engage  M.  d'Adhemar  to  come  here  soon.  It  is 
intended  to  give  him  an  office  above  that  of  Chamberlain, 
and  you  can  count  on  the  Margrave  showing  him  every 
imaginable  attention. 

I  think  your  residence  in  Germany  inspired  all  hearts  with 
a  rage  for  reciting  poetry.  The  Court  of  Wurtemberg 
returns  here  on  purpose  to  act  with  us.  The  sensible  Yriot 
has,  according  to  my  mind,  chosen  the  most  detestable  play 
there  is  as  regards  versification:  it  is  "  Orestes  and  Pylades,"  by 
La  Motte.  I  admire  the  different  modes  of  thought  which 
there  are  in  the  world.  You  exclude  women  from  your 
tragedies  at  Potsdam,  and  we  would,  if  we  had  a  Voltaire, 
diminish  the  number  of  men  in  those  we  act  here.  Cannot 
you  possibly  arrange  a  piece  for  us,  and  give  the  two 
principal  parts  to  women  ?  The  Duke  and  my  daughter  act 
very  prettily,  but  that  is  all.  Poor  Montperni  is  still  too 
languid  to  take  any  chief  part,  and  the  others  only  mutilate 
your  pieces.  I  did  not  dare  propose  "  Semiramis,"  the 
Duchess-mother  having  acted  that  piece  at  Stuttgard. 

I  have  seen,  during  these  last  days,  a  very  singular  person- 
age. It  is  one  of  the  Pope's  referendaries,  a  prelate,  Canon  of 
S.  Marie,  and  in  spite  of  all  that,  a  sensible  man,  exasperated 
against  the  monks,  free  from  prejudices,  and  speaking  only  of 
tolerance. 

Your  little  actor  has  arrived.  As  I  have  been  much  indis- 
posed all  this  time,  I  have  not  yet  seen  him,  but  they  have 
spoken  very  well  of  him  to  me. 

Come  soon  and  visit  us  in  our  convent ;  it  is  all  that  we 
wish.  The  Margrave  sends  you  many  messages.  Greet  all 
the  Brothers  who  still  remember  me,  and  be  persuaded  that 
the  Abbess  of  Baireuth  desires  nothing  so  much  as  to  be  able 
to  convince  Brother  Voltaire  of  her  perfect  esteem. 

WlLHELMINE. 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  47 


A  great  genius  makes  itself  everywhere  apparent,  and 
Voltaire  would  have  become  as  great  a  banker  as  he  was 
an  author.  He  would  have  made  a  most  brilliant  speculation, 
had  his  transaction  with  the  Saxon  bank  bills  succeeded. 
What  would  have  been  considered  a  very  clever  operation  on 
the  Bourse  in  these  days  was,  at  that  time  of  financial  igno- 
rance in  Germany,  looked  on  as  a  crime  in  Voltaire,  and  an 
abuse  of  his  position.  One  of  the  conditions  of  the  Peace  of 
Dresden  had  been,  that  all  Prussian  subjects  who  had  money 
invested  in  the  Saxon  Bank  should  receive  not  only  the  full 
interest  due  to  them,  but  have  the  whole  capital  paid  back  to 
them  within  a  given  period.  At  the  same  time  the  bank  bills 
were  not  to  be  used  for  speculation.  It  was  against  this  deci- 
sion that  Voltaire  sinned.  He  sent  the  Jew  Abraham  Hirsch 
to  Dresden  and  Leipzig  with  Bills  of  Exchange,  in  order  to 
buy  bank  bills  standing  at  65.*  Hirsch  had  given  him 
diamonds  as  a  security  for  the  Bills  of  Exchange.  Whilst 
Hirsch  was  on  his  way  to  Dresden,  another  Jewish  business- 
man, named  Ephraim,  oflered  to  do  the  same  business  for 
Voltaire  without  receiving  any  commission  for  it.  Voltaire 
was  merely  to  recommend  him  at  the  Court  of  Berlin.  This 
would  cost  the  poet  no  money,  above  all  a  few  words,  so 
much  the  better.  In  order  to  cancel  the  transaction  with 
Abraham  Hirsch,  Voltaire  managed  to  have  the  Bills  of 
Exchange  he  had  given  him  dishonoured  from  Paris  two 
days  before  they  fell  due.  Abraham  Hirsch  returned  from 
Saxony  without  the  bank  bills,  and  much  put  out  at  the  Bills 
of  Exchange  having  been  dishonoured,  as  he  pretended  this 
measure  had  done  his  own  business  harm,  he  threatened 
Voltaire  with  legal  proceedings.  These  would  have  been 
most  unpleasant  for  the  poet,  on  account  of  the  stipulations 
contained  in  the  Treaty  of  Dresden.     He  therefore  promised 


*  £4,500. 


48  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

Hirsch  compensation  for  his  travelling  expenses,  trouble, 
and  loss  of  time,  in  offering  to  buy  the  diamonds  from 
him.  These  stones  were  set  in  buckles  of  various  sizes  and 
in  rings,  which  Voltaire  had  worn  at  the  representation  of 
one  of  his  tragedies  at  Potsdam.  No  actor  had  probably  ever 
acted  in  more  splendid  attire  than  did  Voltaire  adorned  with 
these  diamonds,  and  who  knows  if  he  was  not  prouder  of  them 
than  of  his  verses !  It  seems  that  later  on  the  poet  regretted  his 
purchase,  preferring  money  to  precious  stones,  and  brought 
an  action  against  Hirsch.  He  accused  the  Jew  of  having 
cheated  him,  who  in  return  insisted  that  Mons.  de  Voltaire 
had  altered  the  document  authorizing  the  transaction,  and 
had  changed  some  of  the  stones.  Enough,  the  questions  of 
dispute  were  never  thoroughly  examined  from  a  legal  point 
of  view.  The  King  had  desired  the  Chancellor  Cocceji  to 
treat  the  whole  matter  strictly  according  to  law,  without  any 
consideration  being  shown  to  either  side.  Yet  it  would 
appear  from  the  legal  documents  that  the  Judges  had  passed 
over  much,  and  entirely  in  Voltaire's  favour.  At  length  a 
compromise  was  effected  between  the  contending  parties, 
through  which  Voltaire  gained  no  great  advantage. 

Baron  Polnitz  gives  the  following  account  of  a  visit 
which  Voltaire  paid  to  the  Chancellor  whilst  the  lawsuit  was 
proceeding.  "  Voltaire  said  he  had  come  in  order  to  submit 
"  some  remarks  to  him  he  had  made  on  the  Code  of  Justice, 
"  just  published  by  his  Excellency,  and  which  contained  some 
"  great  absurdities,  particularly  with  respect  to  Bills  of  Ex- 
"  change.  The  Chancellor  thanked  him  for  his  remarks,  and 
"  promised  to  profit  by  them  in  the  future.  He,  however, 
"  expressed  the  wish  that  things  might  remain  as  they  were 
"  till  judgment  had  been  pronounced  on  the  lawsuit." 

This  whole  quarrel  has  been  treated  here  at  some  length, 
as  the  reader  would  in  all  probability  not  be  acquainted  with 
the  facts  of  the  case,  and  also  because  mention  is  often  made 
of  it  both  by  Voltaire  and  the  Margravine  in  their  letters. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  49 


It  was  in  great  measure  the  cause  of  the  first  serious  estrange- 
ment between  the  poet  and  his  Royal  friend,  and  was  one 
of  the  chief  accusations  which  Frederic  brought  against 
Voltaire.  Besides  this,  a  visit  paid  by  him  to  the  Russian 
Envoy,  Mons.  de  Grass,  was  brought  up  against  him,  as  it 
was  supposed  to  have  caused  serious  political  complications. 

The  Austrian,  French,  and  Russian  alliance,  which  six 
years  later  gave  occasion  to  Frederic  to  display  the  full  glory 
of  his  military  genius,  was  already  impending  in  the  year 
1750.  Mons.  de  Grrass  had  been  sent  to  Berlin  by  the 
Empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia,  in  order  to  bring  about  a 
rupture  between  the  Courts  of  Petersburg  and  Prussia.  By 
what  means  was  immaterial,  as  long  as  they  succeeded.  The 
Russian  Envoy  was  at  a  loss  how  to  fulfil  his  mission.  A 
bright  thought  suddenly  struck  him.  At  a  fete  given  at 
Charlottenburg,  the  Diplomatic  Corps  were  to  be  invited  to 
stay  to  supper.  Mons.  de  Grrass  becoming  aware  of  this, 
very  cleverly  left  the  royal  apartments  a  quarter-of-an-hour 
before  the  invitation  could  reach  him.  He  was  not  asked  to 
supper  !  What  an  unheard  of  insult  to  his  sovereign  !  He 
left  Berlin,  the  diplomatic  relations  between  the  two  powers 
were  broken  off,  the  war  between  Prussia  and  Russia  was 
declared  seven  years  later,  and  all  on  account  of  a  supper. 

30 th  January,  1751. 
Madame, 

Your  Royal  Highness  has  more  rivals 
than  you  are  aware  of,  but  I  think  that  the  Marquis 
d'Adhemar  will  give  you  the  preference.  I  have  again 
written  strongly  to  him.  My  whole  desire  is  to  be 
able  to  be  at  your  feet  this  spring.  But  who  is  the 
man  who  is  master  of  his  fate  ?  Brother  Voltaire  is  here 
undergoing  punishment ;  he  has  a  troublesome  lawsuit 
with  a  Jew,  and  according  to  the  law  of  the  Old  Testament, 
he  will  have  to  pay  for  having  been  robbed ;  but  over  and 

E 


<50  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

above  all,  the  result  of  it  is  a  delightful  quarrel,  which,  if 
subdivided  into  four  or  five  smaller  ones,  would  be  a  fitting 
subject  for  a  comedy,  as  amusing  as  the  manifesto  of  the 
Czarina,  who  calls  Europe  to  witness  that  M.  de  Grass  was  not 
invited  to  supper.  It  would  be  an  amusing  piece  for  your 
Royal  Highness's  theatre  at  Baireuth.  Prince  Henry  acted 
Sidney  yesterday,  as  the  finale  to  the  Carnival.  It  seemed  to 
me  like  putting  on  mourning  on  a  day  of  rejoicing.  It  was  a 
strange  subject  for  a  Prince  of  nineteen  years  to  choose. 
I  would  as  soon  see  a  funeral  as  this  piece.  Prince  Henry, 
however,  recites  so  well,  and  is  so  graceful  in  all  he  does, 
that  he  entirely  saved  me  from  the  disgust  and  the  painfulness 
of  the  work. 

Madame,  when  we  act  at  Potsdam  without  women,  I  assure 
you  that  it  is  much  against  our  will.  The  monks  pray  to  Grod 
to  send  them  women,  but  believe  me,  do  not  try  to  do  without 
men  at  Baireuth.  The  stage  is  the  representation  of  human 
life,  and  in  this  life  it  is  necessary  that  men  and  women 
should  be  together,  as  otherwise  it  would  only  be  half  an 
existence. 

Take  care  of  your  health,  Madame,  that  is  the  most 
essential  point.  If  worth  were  able  to  bestow  health,  then 
you  would  have  the  best  any  Princess  in  this  world  could 
enjoy,  but  unfortunately  in  your  case  the  most  solid 
worth  is  contained  in  the  weakest  of  human  frames.  Tou 
are  condemned  to  a  strict  regime  whilst  La  Metrie  has  two 
fits  of  indigestion  a  day,  and  only  feels  the  better  for  them. 
Your  Royal  Highness  and  the  King  are,  I  think,  of  all 
Princes  blessed  with  the  greatest  intellects  and  with  the 
worst  digestions.  But  there  must  be  compensation  for  every- 
thing. As  to  myself,  poor  wretch,  I  intend  to  spin  out 
here  another  month,  and  then  go  to  Paris  to  arrange  my 
affairs. 

I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any  other  route  to  Paris  than 
over  Baireuth,  and  my  heart,  which  alone  guides  me,  tells 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  51 

me  I  must  take  that  road.     I  lay  myself  at  your  Royal 

Highness's  feet,  and  present  to  you  my  profound  respect  as 

well  as  to  the  Margrave. 

Voltaire. 

It  is  remarkable  how  in  the  course  of  years  the  opinions  on 
historical  personages  of  past  centuries  alter.  The  two  next 
letters  are  very  interesting  in  this  respect.  "  Grood  King 
Henry  IV  "  of  France  was  Voltaire's  hero.  It  was  natural 
he  should  he  so,  considering  the  century  in  which  Voltaire 
lived  and  the  nation  to  which  he  belonged.  Henry  IV  was 
also  held  up  in  opposition  to  Louis  XV's  indolence,  intoler- 
ance, and  weakness.  The  "  Henriade "  was  an  indirect 
satire  on  this  latter  King.  The  enthusiasm  which  still  exists 
in  France  for  the  first  Bourbon  is  really  due  to  the 
"  Henriade,"  and  Henry  IV  could  not  have  had  a  more 
skilful  partisan  than  Voltaire,  though  no  one  would  wish  to 
dispute  the  great  qualities  of  this  Sovereign.  The  Margra- 
vine's clear  and  unprejudiced  judgment  did  not  however  allow 
her  to  be  blinded,  and  she  was  convinced  in  her  own  mind 
that  Henry  IV  owed  his  glory  alone  to  the  genius  of  his 
ministers.  She  courageously  asserted  as  her  own  individual 
opinion  what  now-a-days  has  become  an  acknowledged  fact. 

18th  February,  1751. 

If  you  desire  to  see  me  again  very  much,  the  feeling  is  re- 
ciprocal. Brother  Voltaire  will  be  welcome  at  whatever 
time  it  be,  and  we  will  try  to  make  our  abbey  as  pleasant  to 
him  as  it  is  possible.  Do  not  be  surprised  at  my  former 
language.  It  was  ingenuous,  and  who  says  ingenuous  says 
it  was  sincere.  In  short,  I  am  reading  Sully's  Memoirs  ;  I 
have  read  through  all  those  I  have  on  the  History  of  France. 
These  secret  memoirs  make  one  far  better  acquainted  with 
facts  than  general  histories,  where  the  authors  often  attribute 
great  deeds  —  sometimes  political,  sometimes  military  —  to 

e  2 


52  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

those  who  were  but  little  concerned  in  them.  I  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  you  have  had  some  very  great  men  and 
some  very  commonplace  Kings.  Henry  IV  might  perhaps 
never  have  reigned,  or  would  not  have  been  able  to  maintain 
his  position  without  a  Sully ;  and  Louis  XIV  without  a 
Louvois,  a  Colbert  and  a  Turenne  would  never  have  acquired 
the  name  of  the  Great.  Such  is  the  world  :  one  sacrifices  to 
greatness,  but  rarely  to  merit. 

You  tell  me  many  extraordinary  things.  Apollo  having  a 
lawsuit  with  a  Jew !  Fie,  Sir,  that  is  abominable  !  I  have 
searched  through  the  whole  mythology,  and  have  not  found 
a  shadow  of  pleadings  of  such  description  in  the  Parnassus. 
However  comical  it  may  be,  I  do  not  wish  to  see  it  repre- 
sented on  the  stage.  Great  men  ought  only  to  appear  on  it 
in  their  lustre.  I  wish  to  contemplate  you  as  judge  of  the 
mind,  talent  and  sciences,  triumphing  over  Racine  and 
Corneille,  and  the  perpetual  dictator  of  the  republic  of  the 
"  Belles  Lettres."  I  hope  your  Israelite  will  have  borne 
the  punishment  of  his  knavery,  and  that  you  will  have  a 
quiet  mind.  Send  us  soon  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar ;  think 
of  happiness,  renounce  repentance,  keep  well,  think  some- 
times of  me,  and  rely  on  my  perfect  esteem. 

WlLHELMINE. 

1st  March,  1751. 
Madame, 

Brother  Voltaire  received  your  Eoyal  Reverence's  bene- 
diction the  day  before  yesterday.  The  style  of  the  "  good 
old  times  "  suits  you  equally  well  as  that  of  the  present  day. 
You  possess  the  delicacy  of  the  one  and  the  ingenuousness 
of  the  other.  If  the  Due  de  Sully  could  have  known  that  his 
waste  papers,  economical,  royal,  and  political,  were  one  day 
to  be  studied  by  the  Margravine  of  Baireuth,  his  vanity  would 
have  been  greatly  heightened. 

I  think  your  Royal  Highness  is  the  first  person  who  has 


AND    THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  53 

placed  the  Due  de  Sully  above  Henri  Quatre.  As  to  myself, 
weak  minded  man  that  I  am,  I  confess  that  I  prefer  the  weak- 
nesses of  that  good  King  to  all  the  austere  virtues  of  his 
minister.  I  think  even  that  as  regards  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment, Henry  the  Great  possessed  them  to  a  greater  extent 
than  did  the  Due  de  Sully.  We  owe  several  manufactures, 
and  above  all  the  introduction  of  silk  worms,  to  the  enlight- 
ened persistence  of  that  worthy  King,  who  overcame  the 
obstinate  and  blind  resistance  of  his  minister. 

Besides  the  Due  de  Sully  had  several  lawsuits  against  Jews 
who  supplied  the  army ;  for  that  reason  I  must  be  forgiven 
for  having  been  able  to  win  one  against  a  scoundrel  of  the 
Old  Testament,  whom  after  all  I  treated  with  too  much 
generosity  after  having  had  him  condemned.  This  affair 
troubled  me  greatly,  because,  as  your  Royal  Highness  says, 
men  of  letters  appear  only  to  exist  for  the  purpose  of  writing, 
and  that  they  ought  not  to  buy  diamonds. 

M.  d'Adhemar  makes  me  hope  daily  that  he  will  be  for- 
tunate enough  to  come  to  your  Eoyal  Highness's  Court.  If 
I  were  in  his  place,  I  should  have  started  for  it  long  ago.  I 
hope  that  the  Chamberlain,  M.  d'Ammon,  who  lodges  in  my 
house  in  Paris,  and  who  has  supper  every  evening  with  the 
Marquis  d'Adhemar,  will  not  run  counter  to  my  negociation. 
As  regards  the  lady  I  am  anxious  to  find  for  your  Royal 
Highness,  there  is  but  little  hope  of  my  finding  one  at  present. 
The  reason  of  this  is,  that  of  two  things,  either  I  shall  die 
here  of  my  chest,  or  I  shall  go  to  Italy  before  seeing  Paris 
again.  But  be  certain,  Madame,  that  my  heart  will  secretly 
prefer  the  stay  at  Baireuth  to  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  or  St.  Mark 
at  Venice.  The  benedictions  of  the  Pope  and  the  buffooneries 
of  Venice  are  certainly  not  worth  the  honour  of  approaching 
you,  and  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  you.  I  lay  myself  at 
the  Margrave's  feet  and  assure  your  Royal  Highnesses  of  the 
renewed  expression  of  the  profound  respect  and  sincere  attach- 
ment of  the  poor  suffering  Brother  Voltaire. 


54  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

Your  kindness  towards  M.  de  Montperni,  of  which  he  is  so 
deserving,  seems  to  require  me  to  offer  my  best  wishes  for  his 
health.  A  good  monk  should  always  pray  for  all  the 
Brothers. 

Voltaire. 

In  spite  of  all  Voltaire's  exertions  and  entreaties,  the 
charming,  amiable,  and  talented  Marquis  d'Adhemar  had 
not  yet  appeared  at  Baireuth.  Indeed,  he  did  not  arrive 
there  for  some  time.  Paris  had  too  great  attractions  for  him  ; 
to  be  far  from  it  was  like  being  banished  out  of  the  world. 
Baireuth  and  the  Margravine  could  always  be  fallen  back 
upon  in  case  of  need.  It  may  be  a  false  supposition,  for 
there  is  nowhere  positive  proof  of  the  fact,  but  the  feeling 
existed  that  Mad.  Denis  was  the  "  fair  Armida  "  who  kept 
Adhemar  a  prisoner  at  Paris.  Voltaire  clearly  saw  how 
matters  stood,  but  explained  them  differently  to  the  Mar- 
gravine. How  else  are  his  anxiety  and  feverish  eagerness 
for  Adhemar's  departure  from  Paris  to  be  understood  ?  It 
seems  the  Marquis  had  supper  every  evening  with  the 
Chamberlain  d'Ammon  who  lived  in  the  poet's  house,  and 
Mad.  Denis  did  the  honours  !  Patience  !  The  Marquis  will 
eventually  come  to  Baireuth,  when  the  little  romance  in 
Paris  is  at  an  end.  Another  guest  arrived  at  the  Mar- 
gravine's Court  (but  not  the  long  hoped-for  one),  in  the 
person  of  the  King's  physician,  the  grave  Cothenius.  He 
seems  not  to  have  been  very  entertaining,  but  he  had  a 
great  gift,  that  of  curing  sick  people,  and  all  were  ill,  the 
world  and  the  century.  How  could  it  otherwise  have  been 
so  interesting  ? 

The  King  had  given  other  evidence  of  his  extra- 
ordinary good  judgment  in  the  choice  of  those  with  whom 
he  surrounded  himself,  by  attaching  Cothenius  to  his 
service.  This  physician  was  born  in  the  town  of  Havel- 
berg,    in    Brandenburg ;    he     was    extremely    clever,     and 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTK.  55 

rendered  the  King  good  service  during  the  seven  years' 
war.  Cothenius  often  repeated  his  visits  to  Baireuth,  as 
the  Margravine's  own  doctor,  and-  Daniel  de  Superville  had 
exchanged  his  medical  profession  for  that  of  diplomacy, 
having  gone  as  Envoy  to  the  Hague.  For  some  time  past 
Wilhelmine's  health  had  caused  much  anxiety,  and  the 
attacks  of  illness  increased  in  gravity  the  oftener  they 
recurred.  Cothenius  started  for  his  first  visit  to  Baireuth 
in  May  1751,  and  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  Voltaire. 

Potsdam, 

8th  May,  1751. 
Madame, 

Tour  Eoyal  Highness  expected  M.  d'Adhemar 
and  Cothenius.  Instead  of  being  surrounded  by  pleasures  of 
all  descriptions,  is  she  forced  to  have  nothing  but  juleps  and 
globules  ?  Shall  we  always  be  in  fear  and  trembling  for  a 
precious  life  ?  If  the  deep  interest  shown  here  by  all  in  your 
health  could  be  of  any  avail,  your  Royal  Highness  would 
soon  completely  recover. 

Tour  Royal  Highness  knows  the  feeling  I  bear  her ;  and 
she  knows  too,  the  dominion  she  exercises  over  people's 
hearts.  I  am  equally  devoted  to  brother  and  to  sister.  I 
should  like  to  sing  my  matins  at  Potsdam,  and  my  vespers 
at  Baireuth. 

If  I  was  certain  that  this  letter  would  reach  you  at  a 
moment  when  you  were  less  ailing,  I  would  speak  to  you  of 
the  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  who  has  not  yet  been  able  to  make 
up  his  mind  to  leave  Paris.  I  would  also  speak  to  you  of  a 
gentleman  from  Lorraine,  called  Liebaud,  an  officer,  a  man 
of  letters,  sensible,  educated,  and  on  whom  one  can  depend. 
I  can,  however,  only  speak  of  your  health,  and  of  our  anxiety 
and  grief.  Why  cannot  I  accompany  M.  Cothenius  ?  Why 
can  I  not  come  and  lay  myself  at  your  feet,  and  at  those  of 
His  Royal  Highness?     The  King  is   going  to   Cleves.     I 


56  CORRESPONDENCE    EETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


remain  scribbling  in  my  cell.  The  bodily  ills  from  which  I 
suffer  make  me  lead  a  sedentary  life ;  but  I  forget  my  suffer- 
ings, Madame,  only  to  think  of  those  you  endure,  and  I  am 
indignant  with  nature  that  I  am  not  the  only  one  to  suffer. 
Why  must  so  strong  a  soul  be  lodged  in  so  frail  a  body  ?  We 
have  ten  thousand  big  boys  here  at  Potsdam,  who  think  of 
nothing,  and  who,  as  I  write,  are  firing  off  ten  thousand 
rounds  of  ammunition  at  the  gates.  They  are  all  as  well  as 
possible,  and  the  Margravine  of  Baireuth  is  suffering !  And 
Providence,  where  is  it  ?  I  shall  not  be  its  servant,  if  you 
have  no  health,  and  I  will  sing  a  Te  Deuni  when  Cothenius 

returns. 

Brother  Voltaire. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  57 


CHAPTER  IY. 

After  this  last  letter  an  interval  of  ten  months  occurs  in 
the  correspondence.  "  I  am  too  lazy  to  write  letters,"  Wil- 
helmine's  friend  writes  to  his  niece,  Madame  de  Fontaine. 
"  I  have  been  very  ill  this  winter,  and  thought  I  should  have 
died,  but  I  have  only  grown  old." 

The  relations  between  Voltaire  and  the  King  had  lately 
become  less  intimate,  and  there  were  signs  of  apparent 
displeasure  on  Frederic's  part.  "  In  the  circle  of  the 
Queen  Mother  it  is  generally  believed  that  I  have  fallen 
into  disgrace  with  your  Majesty,"  the  poet  writes  to  the 
King  on  January  30th,  1752.  "  Le  chef  de  la  Bande,"  Baron 
Polnitz  says  with  ill-disguised  jealousy,  "  is  still  in  disgrace, 
and  yet  better  treated  than  Ovid  was  in  the  time  of  his 
favour  at  the  Court  of  Augustus."  Voltaire  still  retained  his 
apartments  in  the  Castles,  his  horses  and  carriages,  but  the  King 
gave  him  so  much  liberty,  that  it  made  him  quite  unhappy. 
He  saw  him  very  seldom,  and  the  effect  this  produced  on  the 
former  favourite,  who  had  been  courted  by  Generals, 
Ministers  and  Field-marshals,  is  evident  from  the  following 
letter  of  Polnitz  :  "  Voltaire  is  alone  here,  so  greatly  depressed 
"  in  mind  and  body  as  scarcely  to  be  recognized.  He  spent  two 
"  hours  with  me  yesterday,  and  our  conversation  was  most 
"gloomy,  his  from  grief,  and  mine  from  the  feeling  of 
"  the  superiority  of  his  genius.  After  some  silence,  he  told 
"  me  that  he  was  on  the  point  of  starting  for  Italy.  He 
"  asked  me  if  he  should  make  a  digression  and  pass  by 
"  Baireuth.  A  moment  later  he  asked  me  to  let  him  have 
"  the  house  I  now  occupy  with  all  its  furniture,  adding  that 
"  he  felt  he  could  not  tear  himself  away  from  here,  as  he  was 


58  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

"  too  much  devoted  to  the  King  ever  to  leave  him.  Then  a 
"  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  he  asked  what  orders  I  had  for 
"  Paris,  as  he  hoped  to  arrive  there  on  the  15th — 16th  May." 

This  morose  and  unsettled  mood  is  apparent  in  Voltaire's 
next  letter.  The  Margravine  had,  as  she  herself  remarks, 
reproached  him,  or  had  him  reproached,  for  his  silence.  The 
beginning  of  his  letter  refers  to  this.  How  could  Voltaire 
otherwise  break  off  suddenly  from  the  subject  in  order  to 
speak  of  "La  Pucelle,"  if  "Wilhelmine  had  not  made  some 
such  remark  in  a  former  letter  ?  In  one  to  Mad.  Denis,  of 
the  3rd  January,  1751,  the  poet  complains  to  her  that  his 
secretary  had  given  up  "Jeanne,  that  girl  who  ought  to  have 
"  been  kept  under  lock  and  key,"  to  Prince  Henry,  after 
much  earnest  entreaty.  Already  on  22nd  February,  1747,  the 
king  had  written  to  Voltaire  :  "  You  sent  your  '  Pucelle '  to 
"  the  Duchess  of  Wurtemberg ;  learn  that  she  had  it  copied 
"  during  the  night."  It  had  happened  during  those  enjoy- 
able days  at  Baireuth.  It  is  positive  that  a  question  was  put 
to  Voltaire  by  Willielmine  with  regard  to  "La  Pucelle,"  a 
poem  of  which  fragments  were  scattered  at  Berlin,  Stuttgard, 
and  Vienna. 

Lord  Tyrconnel,  the  French  Envoy  at  Berlin,  had  died  on 
12th  March,  1752,  preceded  by  his  friend  La  Metrie  on  11th 
November,  1751.  Lord  Tyrconnel's  house  had  been  among  the 
first  in  Berlin  society.  Lady  Tyrconnel  had  introduced  high 
play,  dined  at  5  or  6  o'clock,  and  went  to  parties  at  mid- 
night, an  unheard  of  novelty  at  Berlin.  Voltaire  had  acted, 
dined,  and  joked  with  Lord  Tyrconnel.  He  wished  to  erect 
a  monument  to  his  departed  friend,  and  did  so  in  his 
"  Pucelle,"  upon  which  he  was  just  at  work.  "  Le  Due 
Tyrconnel,"  who  so  suddenly  interrupts  the  interview  between 
"  Dorothee"  and  "  LaTremouille,"  is  the  true  representation 
of  the  "  frais,  fort  et  rigoureux  Milord  Tyrconnel "  ;  at  the 
end  of  the  piece  he  becomes  a  Carthusian  monk,  which  was  a 
symbolic  allusion  to  his  having  become  "  a  silent  man." 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  59 

Berlin, 

28th  March,  1751. 
Madame, 

This  sickly  brother,  this  moping  brother,  this 
scribbling  brother  is  more  than  ever  at  your  Eoyal  Highness' 
feet.  If  he  wrote  to  her  as  often  as  he  thinks  of  her, 
she  "would  receive  five  or  six  letters  a  day. 

I  am  waiting,  Madame,  for  the  happy  moment  when  my 
health  will  permit  of  my  undertaking  the  journey  to  Baireuth. 
It  seems  to  me  that  I  have  given  up  going  to  France  and  to 
Italy,  but  I  console  myself  with  the  hope  of  paying  you  my 
court. 

Those  fond  of  the  fine  arts  were  formerly  obliged  to 
go  to  Naples,  to  Florence,  to  Ferrara;  now  they  go  to 
Baireuth. 

If  your  Eoyal  Highness  has  the  wish  to  have  a  new  opera 
given  at  Baireuth,  let  me  advise  you  not  to  choose  "Orpheus," 
which  the  King,  your  brother,  has  just  had  played.  I  never 
saw  a  more  foolish  Pluto  or  a  more  tiresome  Orpheus. 
There  are  always  fine  things  in  Grraun's  music,  but  in  this 
case  he  was  overpowered  by  the  poet.  The  King,  who  under- 
stands these  things,  fortunately  had  the  piece  greatly 
shortened.  I  remarked  to  an  old  military  gentleman  who 
was  sitting  yawning  at  my  side,  and  who  did  not,  besides, 
understand  one  word  of  Italian,  "  In  truth,  the  King  is  one 
of  the  best  Princes  who  has  ever  lived ;  he  has,  more  than 
ever,  pity  on  his  people."  "  How  do  you  mean?  "  he  replied. 
"  Yes,"  I  added,  "  he  has  shortened  this  opera  by  one  half." 
I  flatter  myself  that  your  Royal  Highness  has  had  some 
charming  fetes  this  winter,  and  good  health.  Above  all 
things,  Madame,  take  care  of  your  health.  It  is  this  which 
we  must  wish  you ;  for  beauty,  greatness,  cleverness,  the  gift 
of  pleasing,  all  are  in  vain  if  you  have  a  bad  digestion. 
Happiness  depends  on  your  stomach. 

Really,  Madame,  I  know  more  about  "  La  Pucelle  "  than 


60         CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

your  Royal  Highness  thinks.  The  Duchess  of  "Wurtemherg 
did  indeed  pass  a  night  in  your  castle  to  copy  some  fragments 
of  it.  But  what  is  possessed  at  Vienna  of  this  work,  was  got 
hold  of  during  the  battle  of  Soar.  Whilst  the  King  was 
occupied  in  fighting  the  regular  Austrian  troops,  some 
hussars  amused  themselves  in  pillaging  his  baggage, 
and  stole  the  "  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV "  and  what  the 
King  possessed  of  "La  Pucelle,"  about  700 — 800  verses 
detached  from  the  body  of  the  work  ;  so  that  "  Jeanne  "  has 
been  somewhat  battered  about,  though  she  has  not  entirely 
lost  her  maidenhood.  This  Jeanne  seemed  always  fated  to 
be  made  prisoner  during  war.  I  composed  two  new  stanzas 
about  her  a  few  months  back,  and  introduced  a  certain  burly 
Tyrconnel,  but  Tyrconnel  was  not  successful. 

Pardon  me,  Madame,  but  I  have  no  space  left  to  present 
to  your  Eoyal  Highnessess  the  profound  respects  of 

Brother  Voltaire. 


Potsdam, 

10th  April,  1752. 

Madame, 

I  have  not  had  any  news  of  the  Marquis 
d'Adhemar  for  a  year,  who  had  much  wished  to  be  attached 
to  your  Royal  Highness'  Court,  and  whom  you  also  seemed 
desirous  of  having  in  your  house.  He  had  till  now  not  been 
able  to  surmount  the  difficulties  placed  in  his  way  by  his 
father,  who  is,  as  your  Royal  Highness  probably  knows, 
Great  Chamberlain  to  King  Stanislas  at  Luneville.  He  has 
at  length  informed  me  that  he  has  succeeded  in  removing  all 
obstacles,  and  that  he  is  ready  to  come  and  lay  himself  at  your 
Royal  Highness's  feet.  I  am  ignorant,  Madame,  if  you  are 
still  of  the  same  mind  regarding  him.  As  all  the  appoint- 
ments at  your  Royal  Highness's  Court  are  filled  up,  he  would 
ask  to  be  named  Honorary  Equerry.     It  is  a  post  scarcely 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  61 


known  in  France,  and  which,  I  think,  corresponds  with  that 
of  Master  of  the  Horse.    It  is  merely  a  title,  and  nothing  more, 
and  only  important  from  the  fact  that  it  wonld  not  look  well 
to  appear  to  be  a  useless  member  of  your  Court.     I  remem- 
ber that  your  Eoyal  Highness  decided  that  his  salary  should 
be  1500  crowns.    This  is  the  actual  state  of  this  little  matter 
at  the  moment.     I  have  answered  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar 
that  I  was  awaiting  your  commands,  and  I  have  committed 
your   Eoyal   Highness   to   nothing.      I   shall   inform   him, 
Madame,  of  your  latest  decision  and  of  the  orders  with  which 
you  will  honour  me.      All  that  I  am  certain  of  is,  that  I 
should  like,  in  company  with  him,  to  swell  the  number  of 
your  courtiers,  but  Brother  Voltaire  does  not  know  as  yet 
when  he  will  put  his  nose  outside  his  cell.     He  is  the  best 
monk  that  ever  existed,  and  has  become  too  easily  accustomed 
to  a  solitary  life.     I  might  be  able  to  get  leave  and  pay  you 
my  court  after  Prince  Henry's  marriage.     However,  I  am 
certain  of  nothing,  and  resign  myself  entirely  to  the  decrees 
of  Providence.   I  am  in  hopes,  Madame,  that  your  health  has 
escaped  from  those  storms  which  gave  cause  for  so  much 
anxiety,  and  that  therefore  nothing  may  disturb  the  peaceful 
tenor  of  your  existence. 

Permit  me,  Madame,  to  renew  for  ever  to  your  Royal 
Highness  and  His  Highness,  the  expression  of  my  profound 
respect  and  unalterable  attachment.  If  I  dared,  I  would  add 
a  message  for  M.  de  Montperni ;  but  how  could  I  take  such 

a  liberty  ? 

Voltaire. 

20th  April,  1752. 

The  penance  which  you  impose  on  yourself  has  succeeded 
in  appeasing  my  wrath.  I  had  yet  been  unable  to  forget 
your  indifference.  It  required  not  less  than  a  pilgrimage  to 
our  Lady  of  Baireuth  to  wipe  out  your  sin.  Brother 
Voltaire   will  be   forgiven   at  such   a   price.     He   will  be 


62  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

welcome  there,  and  will  find  friends  eager  to  oblige  him  and 
to  show  him  their  esteem.  I  still  doubt  in  the  fulfilment  of 
your  promises.  Has  the  German  climate  been  able  in  so 
short  a  time  to  reform  French  levity  ?  The  journey  to 
France  and  Italy  having  been  reduced  to  castles  in  the  air 
makes  me  fear  the  same  fate  for  this  one.  Be  therefore  more 
than  German  in  your  resolutions,  and  procure  me  soon  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  again. 

Although  absent,  you  have  had  the  faculty  of  making  me 
shed  tears.  I  saw  your  false  Prophet  given  yesterday. 
The  actors  surpassed  themselves,  and  you  have  had  the 
glory  of  touching  our  Franconian  hearts,  which  moreover 
resemble  somewhat  the  rocks  amongst  which  they  live. 

The  Marquis  d'Adhemar  had  M.  de  Folard  written  to 
four  weeks  ago.  I  forgot  to  aquaint  you  with  it  in  my  last 
letter.  You  can  easily  judge  that  his  offers  were  received 
with  pleasure.  Montperni  has  consequently  written  to  him. 
I  hope  that  he  will  be  satisfied  with  the  conditions.  They 
are  more  advantageous  than  those  which  he  desired.  They 
consist  in  4,000  "  livres,"  free  table,  and  the  keep  of  his 
carriages  and  horses.  I  beg  you  to  finish  your  work,  and  to 
manage  so  that  it  should  soon  be  terminated.  I  shall  be 
under  a  great  obligation  to  you  for  doing  so.  You  know 
that  the  title  he  asks  for  is  not  one  customary  in  Germany. 
As  it  answers  to  that  of  Chamberlain,  he  will  have  this  title 
about  me. 

Time  prevents  my  saying  more  to  you  about  it  to-day. 
Be  persuaded  that  I  shall  always  be  your  friend, 

WlLHELMINE. 

It  is  not  the  qualities  of  the  mind,  but  those  of  the  charac- 
ter, which  cause  estrangements.  Whilst  Voltaire's  wonderful 
intellect  was  irresistibly  attractive,  his  personality  was  always 
repulsive    to   Frederic's   nature ;    and  in   these    conflicting 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  63 


feelings  will  be  found  the  clue  to  the  instability  of  their 
friendship.  Besides  the  affair  with  Arnaud  and  the  lawsuit 
about  the  diamonds,  the  King  had  been  much  displeased  at  a 
visit  the  poet  paid  to  the  Russian  Envoy,  Mons.  de  Grass. 
The  intercourse  with  foreign  diplomatists  was  not  approved 
of  at  Court  at  that  moment.  Not  only  had  Voltaire  acted 
in  direct  opposition  to  Frederic's  wishes  on  this  point,  but  he 
had  allowed  Mons.  de  Grass  to  infer  that  he  had  been  sent 
by  Frederic,  when  the  supper  incident  was  spoken  of.  In 
such  matters  the  King  would  not  allow  himself  to  be  trifled 
with.  The  welfare  of  his  kingdom  was  of  too  paramount  an 
importance  to  him  that  he  should  take  the  interests  of  private 
individuals  into  consideration.  Throughout  his  reign  he 
drew  a  distinct  line  between  matters  of  State  and  those 
relating  to  his  private  life,  and  herein  lay  the  secret  of  much 
of  his  success.  During  the  day  he  was  the  King,  and  nothing 
but  the  King,  and  Mons.  de  Voltaire  was  unknown  to  him. 
Of  an  evening,  however,  at  the  suppers  held  at  Sans 
Souci,  or  at  the  Castle  of  Potsdam  where  Frederic  did  the 
honours  as  host,  Voltaire  was  his  friend,  his  favorite,  the 
King  of  the  entertainment.  The  Poet  could  not  understand 
nice  distinctions ;  he  was  accustomed  to  the  back  door  system 
and  petites  entrees  of  Versailles.  There  the  King  was  the 
State,  and  the  Sovereign  was  Madame  de  Pompadour, 
Voltaire's  former  intimate  friend,  with  whom  he  was  no 
longer  on  such  good  terms.  Such  a  system  of  intrigue  and 
underhand  dealing  had  a  great  charm  for  Voltaire.  He 
loved  mixing  himself  up  in  politics  and  in  meddling  in  the 
affairs  of  the  State,  but  unfortunately  this  in  no  wise  suited 
Frederic's  views.  The  Hohenzollerns  have  at  all  times 
insisted  on  the  same  strict  line  being  observed  in  the  audience 
Chamber  as  on  the  drill  ground. 

Added  to  these  provoking  incidents  before  mentioned, 
ill-natured  gossip,  intrigues  and  unfortunate  misunderstand- 
ings tended  to  increase  the  tension  existing  between  Voltaire 


64  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

and  the  King.  Although  Frederic  was  careful  to  observe  all 
rules  of  civility  towards  his  guest,  and  offer  him  all  the  advan- 
tages to  be  enjoyed  at  his  Court,  he  nevertheless  was  increas- 
ingly distant  and  cold  in  his  demeanour  towards  him.  Voltaire 
brooded  in  silence  over  the  King's  altered  manner,  and  resolved 
to  induce  the  Margravine  to  influence  her  Brother  in  his  favour. 
He  would  willingly  have  borne  the  King's  anger,  but  this 
studied  civility  was  unbearable  to  him.  In  Wilhelmine's 
letter  to  the  poet  of  the  12th  June,  1752,  she  mentions 
having  written  to  the  King  on  the  subject,  but  it  is 
nevertheless  apparent  that  she  would  rather  not  be  mixed  up 
in  this  matter.  She  knew  the  King  well,  and  being  besides 
aware  of  the  terms  in  which  he  had  spoken  of  his  former 
friend,  was  prepared  for  His  Majesty's  answer. 

The  following  letter  from  Voltaire  is  interesting  on  account 
of  his  allusions  to  the  King  and  his  own  disgrace.  It  con- 
tains besides  some  graceful  little  verses  written  in  honour  of 
the  marriage  of  the  King's  second  brother,  Prince  Henry, 
the  future  hero  of  Freiberg.  He  married  the  Princess  of 
Hesse  Cassel  on  the  25th  June,  1752.  Chevalier  de  Folard, 
mentioned  in  the  letters,  was  the  French  Envoy  at  the  Diet  of 
Regensburg,  and  nephew  of  the  celebrated  Commentator  of 
Polybius. 

End  of  May,  1752. 
Madame, 

I  have  not  yet  received  any  answer  from  the 
Marquis  d'Adhemar.  I  wrote  to  him  the  same  day  as  that 
on  which  I  had  the  honour  of  receiving  your  Royal 
Highness's  orders.  It  may  be  that  he  has  addressed 
himself  to  M.  de  Folard,  or  that  he  did  himself  the 
honour  of  writing  to  your  Royal  Highness.  Perhaps 
he  has  already  the  happiness  of  being  near  you  without 
my  having  been  informed  of  it  here,  in  my  complete 
and  happy  solitude  at  Potsdam.    Or  he  has  not  yet  been  able 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIRETJTH.  65 

to  make  up  his  mind.  It  seems  difficult,  Madame,  from  what 
I  see,  to  get  hold  of  Adhemars  and  Grraffignys,  but  it  is  quite 
easy  to  take  possession  of  some  poor  Yoltaires,  people  who 
are  good  for  nothing,  yet  who  devote  themselves  heart  and 
soul  to  those  whom  they  have  the  insolence  of  loving.  I 
remained  at  Potsdam  whilst  the  King,  your  brother,  made 
war  in  the  plains  around  Berlin.  You  are  probably  aware 
that  he  has  had  a  long  and  severe  attack  of  gout.  Do  you 
also  know,  Madame,  that  during  the  attack  he  put  his 
swollen  foot  into  a  boot  and  was  present  at  reviews  held  in  the 
rain?  Future  generations  will  therefore  not  be  surprised  that 
he  won  battles.  I  admire  him  daily  more,  both  as  King  and 
as  man.  His  kindness  and  indulgence  in  society  are  the 
charm  of  my  life.  He  had  every  right  to  say,  as  he  did  in 
one  of  his  beautiful  letters,  that  he  was  a  stern  King  and  a 
humane  man ;  but  I  think  he  is  far  more  the  humane  man 
than  the  stern  King.  His  virtues  and  his  talents,  his 
philosophy,  his  abhorrence  of  all  superstition,  his  retiring 
nature,  the  regularity  of  his  life,  his  application,  his  mental 
research,  as  well  as  care  for  his  kingdom,  all  these  have 
attached  me  intimately  and  for  ever  to  him.  I  shall 
never  repent  having  given  up  everything  for  his  sake.  In 
truth,  Madame,  I  really  think  your  Royal  Highness  should 
warn  him  in  one  of  your  letters  that  he  is  turning  my  head. 
He  inspires  me  with  more  enthusiasm  than  fanaticism  does 
its  devotee.  But  I  do  not  speak  to  him  of  it,  and  he 
does  not  know  the  whole  of  my  secret.  I  speak 
rather  unreservedly  to  your  Royal  Highness  of  my 
attachment  for  you,  and  of  my  great  desire  of  paying 
you  my  court  at  Baireuth,  and  of  thus  going  from 
one  paradise  into  another  ;  but  when  will  that  be  ?  I  really 
cannot  tell  in  the  least.  I  am  like  Adhemar  in  respect  to 
my  journeys,  who  cannot  make  up  his  mind  to  migrate. 
What  I  do  know,  however,  is  this:  that  when  once  at 
Baireuth  or  at  Potsdam,  one  never  wishes  to  leave  them. 

F 


66  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 


You  are  going,  Madame,  to  have  a  new  sister-in-law.  Pre- 
parations are  being  made  for  brilliant  festivities,  but  in  my 
eyes  they  will  not  in  the  least  compare  with  those  which 
I  saw  two  years  ago ;  you  adorned  them,  and,  besides, 
ought  an  old  philosopher,  living  in  retirement,  to  present 
himself  to  a  newly-married  couple  ?  Am  I  made  to  be  best 
man  ?  I  pray,  as  a  good  monk  should,  for  all  prosperity  and 
success  to  Prince  Henry. 

"  Ye  joys  and  graces  with  the  loves  entwine, 
And  lightly  hover  where  the  Prince  doth  lie. 
Fleet,  youthful  choir,  your  grief  is  less  than  mine, 
That  we,  alas  !  have  parted  company." 

I  present  my  profound  respects  and  unchanging  devotion 
to  your  Royal  Highness,  and  to  the  Margrave.  Has  M.  de 
Montperni  forgotten 

Brother  Voltaire  ? 


Potsdam, 

5th  June,  1752. 
Madame, 

Brother  Voltaire  who  is  quite  undone,  brother 
Voltaire  who  is  dying,  interrupts  his  death  throes  to  tell  your 
Royal  Highness  that  he  believes  that  M.  d'Adhemar  is  now 
in  your  service,  and  that  he  is  aware  of  his  good  fortune. 
As  to  myself,  I  am  no  longer  good  for  anything,  and  I  do 
not  understand  how  the  King  your  brother  has  the  kindness 
to  let  me  remain.  It  is  said  that  the  Margravine  of 
Anspach  is  at  Berlin.  A  Margravine  exists  whom  I  should 
like  to  see  return  there,  and  I  believe  that  the  honour  of 
paying  her  my  court  would  restore  me  to  health.  Why 
should  you  not  come  there,  Madame  ?  People  pretend  that 
the  plague  is  raging  in  Uie  Upper  Palatinate,  it  is  perhaps 
not  true ;  the  most  notorious  facts  do  not  reach  Potsdam  when 
the  King  is  not  there,  and  one  is  separated  from  mankind  in 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  67 

general.  If  the  King  is  absent,  everything  stagnates.  If  it 
is  true  that  the  plague  has  appeared  in  your  dominions,  then 
Potsdam  is  a  real  safeguard;  some  detachments  of  tall 
grenadiers  will  be  sent  to  fight  it,  and  it  will  take  to  flight, 
as  the  Austrians  did. 

The  Marquis  d'Adhemar  has  written  again  to  me  to  say 
that  he  would  already  have  been  at  your  Royal  Highness's 
feet,  but  for  a  serious  illness  he  has  suffered  from.  I  flatter 
myself  that  it  was  not  the  plague.  Brother  Voltaire 
prostrates  himself  on  his  pallet  before  your  Royal  Highness 
and  the  Margrave. 

12th  June,  1752. 

The  Marquis  d'Adhemar  has  not  yet  arrived ;  we  expect 
him  at  any  moment.  He  has  been  ill,  which  has  delayed  his 
departure.  I  think  it  is  much  easier  to  have  Adhemars  and 
Graffignys  than  Yoltaires.  It  is  only  the  King  who  has  the 
right  to  possess  these.  You  make  me  experience  the  fate  of 
Tantalus.  You  always  flatter  me  by  the  promise  of  coming 
here,  and  then  when  I  am  expecting  to  see  you,  my  hopes 
fade  away.  If  you  really  had  had  the  desire,  you  could  have 
taken  advantage  of  the  King's  absence ;  but  you  follow  the 
maxims  of  many  great  ministers,  who  make  fine  speeches 
without  results.  I  have  written  to  the  King  what  you  asked 
me  to  do  on  his  account.  It  is  difficult  to  know  him  without 
loving  and  becoming  attached  to  him.  He  is  one  among  the 
number  of  those  phenomena,  which  at  most  only  appear  once 
in  a  century.  You  know  my  feelings  for  that  dear  brother, 
so  I  break  off  short  on  that  subject.  We  are  at  present 
leading  a  country  life.  I  divide  my  time  between  my  body 
and  my  mind ;  we  must  sustain  the  one,  to  maintain  the 
other,  for  I  observe  more  and  more,  that  we  think  and  act 
only  according  as  our  machine  is  wound  up.  You  seem  to 
have  become  very  misanthropical.     You  remain  at  Potsdam 

f  2 


68  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

whilst  the  King  is  at  Berlin,  and  you  imagine  that  a 
philosopher  does  not  suit  a  wedding.  One  can  see  that  you 
have  never  tried  marriage,  and  that  you  ignore  that  one  of 
the  essential  points"  in  that  state  is  to  be  a  good  philosopher, 
above  all  in  Germany.  The  four  verses  which  you  make  on 
the  subject  seem  to  me  rather  Epicurian,  and  this  Epicurianism 
is  incompatible  with  misanthropy.  Tou  only  require  a  new 
mania  to  take  you  out  of  your  gloomy  reflections,  and  to 
restore  you  to  the  love  of  pleasures. 

The  Margrave  sends  you  many  messages.  Montperni  is 
always  among  your  friends.  We  often  speak  of  you;  but 
eccentric,  and  moreover  overwhelmed  with  business,  he  cannot 
write  to  you.  His  pains  are  abating,  but  he  still  has  them 
for  several  hours  each  day,  and  lives  like  a  monk  in  order  to 
try  and  get  well.  I  only  see  him  for  a  moment  every  day. 
He  was  the  chief  ornament  of  our  little  society.  I  hope 
Adhemar  will  supply  the  deficiency.  Be  persuaded  that  I  am 
only  looking  for  the  occasions  of  convincing  you  of  my 
perfect  esteem. 

"WlLHELMINE. 

p.S. — The  King  told  me  when  I  was  at  Berlin  that  he 
wished  to  get  "  l'Esprit  de  Bayle  "  written.  If  this  work 
is  ready,  and  is  to  be  had,  I  beg  you  to  procure  it  for 
me.  I  have  received  the  supplement  to  the  dictionary 
written  in  England.  To  my  mind,  it  is  very  inferior  to  the 
original. 

Poisdam, 

June  17th,  1752. 
Madame, 

Brother  Voltaire  does  not  know  what  he  says;  he 
will  never  believe  what  he  hears  discussed  in  his  cell,  whilst 
the  hero  of  the  report  is  not  at  Potsdam — poor  man,  having 
received  the  news  of  the  arrival  of  a  Margravine  at  Berlin 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OP    BAIREUTH.  69 

and  of  the  plague  at  Augsburg,  he  begs  your  Royal 
Highness's  pardon  many  times !  All  that  he  knows  is, 
that  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar  swears  that  he  is  going 
to  place  himself  at  your  feet  if  he  is  not  there  already.  It 
would  be  well  if  Brother  Voltaire  never  left  his  cell,  but  to 
go  to  your  abbey.  He  renews  his  good  wishes  and  his  fervent 
prayers  for  the  health,  prosperity,  and  long  life  of  your 
Royal  Highness,  but  none  for  eternal  life. 

VOLTATRE. 

The  Abbe  de  Prades  had  arrived  at  Berlin  in  the  beginning 
of  August,  1752.  Voltaire  took  great  interest  in  him,  partly 
because  he  had  been  recommended  by  D'Alembert  *  to 
Madame  de  Denis,  and  by  her  to  her  uncle,  and  partly 
because  he  was  one  of  the  victims  of  the  Parisian  clergy, 
although  an  innocent  one.  In  truth,  they  could  not  have 
done  him  a  greater  honour  than  to  condemn  his  "  These  "  as 
heretical.  The  Sorbonne  held  that  it  contained  matter  which 
showed  a  strong  leaning  towards  the  English  Deist  doctrine. 
The  Abbe  awoke  one  morning  to  find  himself  considered  as  a 
danger  to  the  State,  and  prosecuted  by  Parliament.  He  fled 
from  Paris  to  Holland,  and  from  there  came  to  Berlin.  The 
fact  of  his  being  condemned  on  account  of  his  religious  views 
was  his  best  recommendation  there.  Voltaire  and  the 
Marquis  d'Argens  endeavoured  to  procure  him  an  appoint- 
ment at  Court.  He  became  Reader  and  Literary  Secretary 
to  the  King ;  a  worthy  successor  to  La  Metrie,  being  just  as 
light-hearted,  fat,  and  with  an  equally  good  appetite.  He 
was  always  called  "  Frere  Graillard  "  by  "  La  Bande."  His 
deficiency  in  general  knowledge  was  amply  compensated  for 
by  his  power  of  talk  ;  the  King  mentions  him  as  having  been 


*  Jean  Le  Rond  d'Alembert,  famous  mathematician  and  philosopher,  one 
of  the  leading  members  of  the  Encyclopedists.  Born  at  Paris,  1719, 
died  1783. 


70  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 

possessed  of  a  marvellous  pair  of  lungs.  Voltaire's  next 
letter  contains  a  recommendation  for  the  Abbe.  Although 
he  is  not  mentioned  by  name,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
references  made  relate  to  him.  There  was  most  likely  some 
difficulty  at  first  in  procuring  employment  for  him,  and 
Voltaire  may  therefore  have  thought  of  recommending  him 
to  the  Margravine,  till  on  his  return  from  Silicia  the  King 
took  him  into  his  own  service.  The  Abbe,  however,  proved 
himself  unworthy  of  the  post  he  occupied,  for  whilst  Frederic 
was  at  war  with  France,  he  was  engaged  in  secret  treasonable 
negotiations  with  the  French  Commander-in-Chief,  notwith- 
standing  all  the  favour  and  pecuniary  advantages  bestowed 
on  him  by  the  King.  The  Abbe  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
that  honesty  is  better  than  patriotism.  He  was  imprisoned 
in  the  fortress  of  Magdeburg,  and  for  ever  banished  from  the 
King's  service. 

Madame, 

Brother  Voltaire,  as  your  Royal  Highness 
perceives,  only  writes  about  the  Almighty.  He  is  also  in  a 
convent,  where  his  salvation  is  being  worked  out.  A  much 
bigger  volume  would  be  made  on  the  theological  subject  in 
question  than  that  of  the  "Suniniae-theologiaB  of  St.  Thomas." 
He  lays  the  accompanying  essay  at  your  feet.  It  is  for  your 
Royal  Reverence  to  give  judgment.  There  are  in  France 
monks  of  Fentevraux,  who  blindly  obey  an  Abbesse.  I  feel 
I  belong  to  these.  Madame,  do  you  require  the  service  of  a 
reader,  with  a  strong  chest  and  indefatigable  intelligence,  a 
theologian  who  does  not  believe  in  Grod,  and  as  learned  as  a 
Lucraze,  almost  as  stout  as  he  is,  and  eating  nearly  as  much, 
very  serviceable  and  not  expensive?  If  you  do,  I  could  procure 
him  for  your  Royal  Highness.  You  know  I  never  make  you 
useless  presents,  and  that  you  can  rely  on  the  zeal  which  I 
shall  have  all  my  life  for  your  service. 

I   have   executed  your   commands    respecting   Baron   de 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  71 

Polnitz.  It  is  enough  to  restore  him  to  health,  and  he  is 
already  much  better.  If  I  ever  possess  the  health  which  the 
Author  of  natural  religion  has  absolutely  denied  me,  I  shall 
certainly  come  to  Baireuth  to  enquire  after  that  of  your 
Royal^Highness !  Baireuth  is  the  church  to  which  I  wish 
to  make  a  pilgrimage,  there  to  worship  as  I  would  to  Grod 
Himself,  and  to  bow  down  before  the  august  Saint  to  whom 
I  pray  with  such  deep  respect. 

Would  the  Margrave  deign  to  accept  my  homage,  and 
your  Royal  Highness  graciously  allow  me  to  enclose  a  letter 
for  M.  d'Adhemar  ?  I  am  much  concerned  about  M.  de 
Montperni.  Tour  Royal  Highness  would  lose  in  him  a 
servant  such  as  Princes  do  not  often  possess. 

Potsdam, 

2<Wi  October,  1752. 
Madame, 

Brother  Voltaire,  who  has  been  dead  to  the 
world,  in  love  with  his  cell  and  his  convent,  which  he  has  not 
left  for  eight  months,  at  last  breaks  through  his  silence  for 
the  sake  of  your  Royal  Highness.  His  separation  from  all 
human  things  has  left  him  some  weaknesses,  and  one  of  these, 
Madame,  is  entirely  for  you.  He  even  thinks  it  is  none,  and 
that  God  will  pardon  him  for  retaining  his  attachment  for  one 
of  his  most  perfect  creatures.  I  take  the  liberty  of  sending 
you  a  small  book  of  Devotions  which  I  have  written  for  my 
very  Reverend  Father  in  Grod,  the  philosopher  of  Sans  Souci. 
I  earnestly  implore  your  Royal  Reverence  not  to  allow  a  copy 
to  be  made  of  it.  The  mysteries  of  the  Saints  must  not  be 
exposed  to  the  eyes  of  the  profane.  This  pious  manuscript  is 
written  in  very  small  characters,  but  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar 
or  M.  de  Montperni,  deacons  of  his  church,  can  read  it  to  you. 
I  am  very  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  presume  only  that 
M.  d'Adhemar  is  with  your  Royal  Highness,  as  I  have  no 
news  from  him  for  six  months.     If  he  is  with  you  I  am  not 


72  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

surprised  that  he  should  forget  the  human  race.  I  am  still 
always  hoping  to  make  a  little  journey  to  Italy,  and  to  see 
the  subterranean  city  before  I  die.  But  before  going  to  see 
what  is  under  the  earth,  I  rely  much  on  being  able  to  pay 
my  court  to  the  most  adorable  being  yet  living  on  earth,  and 
of  renewing  the  expressions  of  ardent  devotion  borne  to  your 
Royal  Highness  by 

Brother,  Voltaire. 

This  letter  would  probably  have  reached  the  Margravine  at 
Erlangen,  a  tower  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Margravate  of 
Baireuth.  The  Margrave  was  in  the  habit  of  spending  some 
time  each  autumn  there  for  the  purpose  of  shooting.  The 
Margravine  did  not  accompany  him  on  these  expeditions,  but 
remained  at  the  pretty  little  castle  from  where  she  wrote  the 
following  answer.  The  short,  philosophical  treatise,  in  which 
Wilhelmine's  warm  feelings  and  speculative  mind  became 
apparent,  is  well  suited  to  the  locality  in  which  she  wrote  it. 
She  had  founded  a  University  at  Erlangen  in  1743,  which 
continues  of  much  repute  to  the  present  day,  and  is  a  seat  of 
German  learning,  especially  of  Theology.  On  the  occasion 
of  the  inauguration  of  this  university,  the  pupil  of  Descartes 
had  given  the  following  sentence  as  a  subject  for  discussion  : 
"  Matter  can  think."  Voltaire  had  made  the  same  assertion 
in  his  letters  on  Locke,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
English  master,  who  in  turn  had  taken  it  from  Spinoza,  and 
worked  it  out  according  to  his  own  theory.  Spinoza  held  that 
mind  and  matter  are  one  and  the  same  thing,  and  that  the 
supposed  difference  between  the  two  proceeded  from  our  own 
limited  understanding.  Locke  went  a  step  further,  and  main- 
tained that  the  intellectual  activity  of  man  was  caused  by 
impulses  of  the  functions  of  the  human  body.  It  is  evident 
that  this  question  occupied  the  minds  of  men  a  hundred,  nay, 
a  thousand  years  ago,  as  it  does  now.  It  still  remains  unsolved 
to  this  hour. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  73 

Erlang, 

Nov.  1,  1752. 

It  requires  more  intelligence  and  more  delicacy  than  I 
possess,  worthily  to  praise  the  work  I  have  received  from  you. 
One  should  be  prepared  for  everything  from  Brother  Voltaire. 
The  fine  things  he  writes  no  longer  cause  surprise,  admira- 
tion has  long  since  succeeded  to  astonishment.  Your  poem 
on  natural  law  has  enchanted  me.  Everything  is  to  be  found 
in  it ;  the  novelty  of  the  subject,  the  sublimity  of  the 
thoughts,  and  the  beauty  of  the  versification.  Dare  I  say 
it  ?  Only  one  thing  is  wanting  to  make  it  perfect.  The 
subject  requires  to  be  treated  at  greater  length  than  you  have 
done.  The  first  proposition,  above  all  things,  requires  to  be 
more  fully  demonstrated.  Allow  me  to  acquaint  you  with 
my  doubts. 

God,  you  say,  has  given  to  all  men  justice  and  a  conscience 
to  warn  them,  just  as  he  has  provided  them  with  what  is 
necessary  to  them. 

Grod  having  given  man  justice  and  a  conscience,  these  two 
virtues  are  innate  in  him,  and  become  an  attribute  of  his 
being.  The  necessary  consequence  of  this  is  that  he  must 
act  in  accordance,  and  that  he  can  neither  be  unjust  nor  have 
any  remorse,  as  he  can  never  overcome  an  instinct  which  is 
part  of  his  being. 

Experience  proves  the  reverse.  If  justice  were  an 
attribute  of  our  nature,  then  all  quarrels  would  be  banished ; 
the  lawyers  would  die  of  hunger ;  the  parliamentary  coun- 
cillors would  not  occupy  themselves,  as  they  are  doing,  about 
a  piece  of  bread  given  or  refused  ;  the  Jesuits  and  Jansen- 
ists  would  confess  their  ignorance  in  matters  of  doctrine. 

Virtues  are  but  accidental  and  dependent  on  society. 
Self-love  has  given  birth  to  justice.  In  early  times  men 
tore  each  other  to  pieces  for  mere  trifles  (as  they  still  do 
nowadays) ;    there  was  no  safety  either  for  your  home  or 


74  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

your  life.  Mine  and  thine,  unfortunate  distinctions  (on 
which  too  much  stress  is  laid  in  present  times)  made  all 
unions  impossible.  Man,  enlightened  by  reason,  and  urged 
on  by  self-love,  discovered  at  length  that  society  could 
not  possibly  exist  without  order.  Two  feelings  belonging 
to  his  being,  and  innate  in  himself,  caused  him  to  become 
just.  Conscience  was  but  the  consequence  of  justice.  The 
two  feelings  I  wish  to  speak  of,  are  aversion  to  suffering 
and  love  of  pleasure. 

Trouble  can  only  beget  sorrow,  whilst  tranquillity  is  the 
mother  of  happiness.  I  have  made  it  a  special  study  to 
thoroughly  examine  the  human  heart.  I  judge  what  I 
see  by  what  has  been.  But  I  bury  myself  too  much  in 
this  subject,  and  might  see  myself  precipitated  from  the 
heavens  like  Icarus.  I  await  your  decisions  with  im- 
patience ;  I  look  on  them  like  oracles.  Lead  me  in  the 
paths  of  truth,  and  be  persuaded  that  I  have  no  more 
evident  wish  than  to  prove  to  you  that  I  am  your  sincere 
friend, 

WlLHELMINE. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  75 


CHAPTER  V. 

At  Berlin  things  were  fast  approaching  that  crisis  which 
Drought  about  the  final  and  complete  rupture  between 
Frederic  the  Great  and  Voltaire.  Two  natures  such  as 
Maupertuis  and  Voltaire  could  not  long  exist  side  by  side. 
The  former  was  just  as  jealous  as  the  latter.  The  peace 
which  had  hitherto  reigned  amongst  the  Knights  of  the 
Round  Table  of  Sans  Souci  had  been  but  a  conditional  one, 
maintained  by  social  considerations.  Already  at  the  end  of 
the  year  1751  Polnitz  had  written  to  the  Margravine : 

"  Our  '  beaux  esprits  '  live  in  apparent  cordiality.  Mons. 
"  de  Maupertuis  alone,  who  cannot  endure  seeing  anyone  else 
"  enjoy  the  King's  favour,  is  living  at  Berlin  for  the  last  three 
"  months.  The  rest  are  most  friendly,  calling  each  other 
"  '  dear  Isaac,' "  (this  was  Voltaire's  pet  name  for  his  dear 
friend  the  Marquis  d'Argens,  author  of  the  "  Lettres  Juives"), 
"  dear  Marquis,  dear  Count.  I  am  certain  that  in  spite  of 
"  these  affectionate  demonstrations  they  would  be  delighted 
"to  part  at  any  price." 

It  is  impossible  to  read  the  following  account  of  the 
unhappy  quarrel  which  put  so  complete  an  end  to  a  friend- 
ship of  many  years'  standing,  without  feelings  of  pain  for 
Voltaire  and  those  of  pity  for  Maupertuis.  Who  was  wisest 
of  the  two  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  who  possessed  the  greater 
mind  is  easily  to  be  guessed.  Voltaire  was  the  most  dis- 
tinguished, but  Maupertuis  was  nevertheless  the  more  power- 
ful. He  was  President  of  the  Academy  of  Science  and 
Learning,  which  gave  him  a  certain  position,  and  he  had 
besides   a  hold   on   Berlin   society  through  his   wife,  who 


76  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

afterwards  became  Mistress  of  the  Robes  to  Princess  Amelie 
of  Prussia. 

The  dispute  arose  as  follows :  Maupertuis  asserted  having 
discovered  anew  Law  of  Nature — "  The  use  of  the  minimum 
of  power  as  applied  to  the  action  of  bodies."  This  assertion 
Professor  Konig,  of  the  Hague,  a  mathematician,  opposed  in 
the  most  distinct  manner.  He  said  he  could  prove  from  a 
letter  of  the  great  Leibnitz — a  copy  of  part  of  which  he 
produced — that  the  philosopher  had  already  in  those  days 
made  mention  of  this  particular  Law,  and  had  pronounced 
against  it.  Maupertuis,  greatly  incensed  with  this  opposition, 
declared  at  a  public  meeting  of  the  Academy,  that  the  letter 
was  a  forged  one.  To  vindicate  his  action  Konig  now 
produced  the  whole  letter,  as  well  as  two  others  from  Leibnitz 
on  the  same  subject.  Voltaire,  who  had  never  much  cared 
for  Konig,  hailed  his  appearance  on  the  scene  of  the  dis- 
pute with  lively  satisfaction.  He  was  longing  himself  to 
be  in  the  midst  of  the  fray,  and  had  with  difficulty  kept 
silent.  He  wrote  a  letter  purporting  to  be  from  a  member 
of  the  Academy,  in  which  he  accused  Maupertuis  of 
plagiarism,  and  represented  the  influence  he  had  exercised 
on  the  Academy  as  a  pernicious  abuse  of  his  position.  This 
letter  was  so  defiant  that  an  answer  soon  followed,  written  by 
the  King  himself,  in  which  he  defended  Maupertuis  by 
energetically  declaring  Voltaire's  Letter  to  be  "  a  dishonour- 
able libel."  Both  letters  were  anonymous,  but  their  authors 
knew  each  other  perfectly.  It  is  easily  to  be  understood 
how  painful  it  must  have  been  for  the  philosophical  master 
to  find  himself  attacked  by  his  pupil  with  the  very  weapons 
he  had  taught  him  to  wield.  There  was,  however,  no 
possibility  of  retreat  left  to  Voltaire  ;  he  was  ready  for  action, 
and  determined  to  fight  "  L'Aplatisseur  de  la  Terre  "  to  the 
bitter  end,  if  possible  to  annihilate  him  completely.  His 
pen  seemed  to  have  acquired  fresh  force  and  vigour,  and  his 
biting   satire   on   Maupertuis'    scientific    crotchets,   entitled 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  77 

"  FHistoire  du  Docteur  Akakia"  was  launched  into  publicity, 
adding  fresh  fuel  to  the  fire.  Maupertuis'  cause  was  now 
lost,  for  it  had  been  turned  into  ridicule. 

Frederic  had  read  the  pamphlet  in  manuscript,  and  had 
been  much  amused  at  the  way  in  which  the  learned  President 
of  the  Academy  had  been  made  fun  of.  He  had  at  the  same 
time,  however,  begged  Voltaire  not  to  have  it  printed.  In 
spite  of  this  request  it  was  nevertheless  published,  the  poet 
having  misused  the  King's  permission  for  the  publication 
of  another  work  for  this  purpose.  The  copies  were  confiscated 
by  Frederic's  orders.  As  the  pamphlet  was  forbidden  to  be 
sold  in  Berlin,  it  now  reappeared  at  Dresden,  where  anything 
directed  against  Prussia  was  allowed  to  pass  unpunished. 
The  King  could  no  longer  tolerate  these  public  insults 
heaped  on  the  President  of  his  Academy  of  Sciences.  It 
was  not  the  learned  Maupertuis,  it  was  his  own  office  which 
was  being  held  up  to  derision,  and  this  could  not  be  left 
unnoticed. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  24th  December,  Christmas  Eve, 
when  it  is  customary  for  all  Berlin  to  be  out  in  the  streets,  a 
great  fire  was  lit  in  one  of  the  open  squares,  into  which  the 
public  executioner  threw  a  quantity  of  books.  Voltaire  saw 
this  autodafe  from  his  windows,  and  suspecting  what  was 
taking  place,  sent  his  secretary  to  enquire  the  name  of  the 
book  which  was  being  thus  destroyed.  The  answered 
returned  was,  "  L'Histoire  du  Docteur  Akakia."  The  flames, 
which  were  gradually  disappearing  on  the  snow  covered 
ground,  burst  forth  afresh  in  the  poet's  breast.  The  fire  had 
not  alone  destroyed  Doctor  Akakia,  but  also  what  remained 
of  Voltaire's  devotion,  respect,  consideration,  and  gratitude 
for  the  King.  He  sent  his  order  and  the  Lord  Chamber- 
lain's key  of  office  back  to  Frederic,  who  however  returned 
them  to  him,  accompanied  by  a  gracious  message  and  an 
invitation  to  come  to  Potsdam  and  occupy  his  usual 
quarters. 


78  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

It  would  have  been  impossible  to  understand  how  Voltaire 
and  the  King  ever  could  have  thought  of  keeping  up  their 
former  intimate  relations,  had  these  two  been  looked  on  as 
ordinary  commonplace  mortals,  and  not  as  the  striking 
historic  personages  they  were.  They  both  felt  what  impor- 
tant parts  they  played  in  the  century's  history,  that  a  common 
tie  bound  them  closely  together — viz.,  that  of  elevating 
their  times  to  a  height  never  previously  attained.  This 
was  the  secret  magnetic  power  which  attracted  them  to  each 
other,  and  which  made  them  anxious,  if  possible,  to  begin 
the  old  life  afresh,  although  estranged  for  a  time.  Intellect 
unites  people,  character  separates  them.  The  question  may 
reasonably  be  put,  whether  Voltaire's  character,  such  as  it 
really  showed  itself,  ever  would  have  become  apparent 
without  that  remarkable  correspondence  with  the  King  ? 
People  whose  intercourse  has  been  confined  to  the  exchange 
of  letters  should  avoid  a  nearer  personal  acquaintance.  The 
reality  nearly  always  falls  short  of  the  ideal,  and  the 
consequent  disappointment  is  apt  to  cause  misunderstandings, 
not  to  say  lasting  estrangements. 

Frederic  and  Voltaire  bore  the  stamp  of  their  time,  a 
century  of  striking  contradictions.  Voltaire  probably  felt 
himself  that  the  former  intimate  friendship  between  him  and 
the  King  could  never  be  re-established,  although  absolutely 
reconciled.  The  King  writes  as  follows  to  his  sister  :  "  It  is 
a  great  pity  that,  possessing  so  much  talent,  this  madman 
should  be  so  bad,  and  cause  so  much  vexation,  yet  to  many 
fools  it  will  be  a  consolation,  that,  in  spite  of  great  intellect, 
one  is  not  worth  more." 

Voltaire  left  Potsdam  on  the  26th  March,  1753,  for 
Plombieres.  On  his  departure  he  left  three  copies  of  his 
"  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV  "  as  a  gift  for  the  Royal  household, 
instead  of  any  pecuniary  gratification.  His  niece,  Madame 
Denis,  was  to  meet  him  at  Frankfort.  Arrived  at  Leipzig, 
he  not  only  threatened  Maupertuis   with  fresh  libels,   but 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  79 

wrote  insulting  articles  against  the  King,  in  the  appendix  of 
his  novel  "  Zadig,"  and  in  "  Les  Voyages  de  Scarmentado." 
His  pen  seemed  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit. 

After  spending  a  few  days  with  the  accomplished  Duchess 
Dorothea  of  Saxe-Gotha,  at  the  Castle  of  Friedenstein  at 
Gotha,  and  with  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel,  Voltaire 
arrived  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main  at  the  end  of  May,  1753. 
Scarcely  had  he  reached  this  town  than  he  experienced  a 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  Prussian  officials,  which,  had  it  not 
been  explained  away,  must  have  left  a  stain  on  the  King's 
reputation  which  nothing  could  have  effaced.  Frederic, 
however,  declared  that  the  only  orders  he  had  given  to  the 
Military  Councellor  von  Freytag  were  to  demand  the  order 
and  Lord  Chamberlain's  key  from  Voltaire,  as  well  as  his 
letters  and  poems. 

In  later  years  Voltaire  threw  all  the  blame  on  Freytag 
only.  The  remembrance  of  those  days  roused  such  bitter 
feelings  in  the  poet's  mind,  that  he  wrote,  in  1757,  to 
Marshal  Eichelieu,  who  with  the  French  troops  was  on  his 
march  to  Germany,  "  If  you  pass  through  Frankfort, 
Madame  Denis  earnestly  entreats  you  to  send  her  the  four 
ears  of  those  two  villains,  Freytag  and  his  accomplice 
Schmidt." 

The  disgraced  favourite  delivered  up  everything  demanded 
of  him,  as  well  as  the  volume  of  the  King's  poems  which  he 
had  received  on  June  17th.  As  no  order  had  arrived  from 
Potsdam,  although  matters  had  been  arranged  and  Voltaire 
had  attempted  flight,  Freytag  had  him  and  his  niece  arrested 
on  June  20.  They  were  taken  under  an  escort  of  soldiers  to 
prison,  where  Madame  Denis  was  exposed  to  the  most  dis- 
graceful treatment,  and  kept  in  confinement  till  June  25th. 
Voltaire,  however,  remained  a  prisoner  till  July  6th, 
although  an  order  for  his  immediate  release  had  arrived  on 
the  5th. 

What  irony  of  fate  !  Voltaire,  the  ideal  of  the  Parisians,  the 


80  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

spoilt  favourite  of  the  great  Frederic,  given  over  into  the 
hands  of  coarse,  uneducated  people,  exposed  to  insult  and 
outrage  !  Why  the  King  did  not  ask  for  his  poems  back 
before  the  poet  left  Potsdam  is  but  a  natural  question  ;  the 
following  reasons  would  give  the  best  answer.  It  was  not 
till  Voltaire  reached  Leipzig,  that  the  King  became  aware,  from 
the  poet's  behaviour  there,  of  the  use  to  which  he  might  put 
his  poems.  Many  of  these  contained  satirical  attacks  -on 
foreign  Courts,  and  especially  against  influential  personages 
at  Versailles.  The  King  found  that  he  had  not  been  wrong 
in  his  apprehensions.  To  his  poems,  and  also  to  the  sharp 
and  cutting  remarks  he  had  often  made  about  those  to  whom 
the  destinies  of  France  were  entrusted,  Frederic  owed  many 
of  his  worst  and  bitterest  enemies.  Frederic  the  Great  could 
win  battles,  but  he  could  never  restrain  a  satirical  remark. 
Already,  whilst  at  Berlin  and  Potsdam,  Voltaire's  thoughts 
and  hopes  were  constantly  directed  to  France.  That  which 
he  had  hoped  to  obtain  in  Prussia,  viz.,  some  diplomatic 
position,  he  now  looked  to  find  in  his  own  country.  In  order 
to  regain  some  of  the  confidence  and  favour  he  had  lost  in 
France,  he  betrayed  the  trust  reposed  in  him  at  Sans  Souci. 
Frederic  had  already  found  him  out,  whilst  still  apparently 
on  intimate  terms  with  him. 

At  the  time  Voltaire  first  came  to  Prussia  and  lived  in 
daily  and  confidential  intercourse  with  the  Eoyal  Philosopher, 
the  words  of  a  future  poet  seemed  about  to  be  realized,  "  that 
the  poet  and  King  should  walk  together,  both  living  in  regions 
to  which  other  mortals  could  not  attain."  Most  of  the  poets 
in  similar  positions  had  natures  like  Icarus,  their  imaginations 
raised  them  up  to  the  sun,  but  they  lost  their  balance  and 
fell.  Only  Goethe  understood  how  to  maintain  himself  in 
such  heights.  In  Voltaire's  case  this  was  impossible ;  his 
position  and  his  theories  were  in  perpetual  conflict.  He 
lived  in  the  glare  of  a  brilliant  court,  and  sunned  himself 
in   the   King's   favour,    whilst    at    the   same   time   all   his 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIRETJTH.  81 

energies  were  directed  towards  bringing  about  the  downfall 
of  monarchy. 

And  what  was  the  end  of  all  this  ?  A  prison  at  Frankfort ! 
It  was  this  catastrophe  which  roused  the  poet's  hatred  and 
resentment,  and  led  him  to  commit  so  many  unworthy  actions 
against  his  former  royal  friend. 

Madame  Denis  had  written  to  the  King  on  the  11th  June 
imploring  her  uncle's  release ;  she  could  address  him  directly, 
as  a  lady  and  as  a  Frenchwoman.  There  was  no  past  to  come 
between  her  and  the  King,  as  was  the  case  with  Voltaire. 
It  must  have  required  all  her  self-command  to  pen  the  letter 
to  Frederic ;  for  she  hated  the  King,  apparently  on  account 
of  her  uncle's  treatment,  but  in  reality  because  she  had  been 
compelled  to  live  alone  in  Paris,  far  from  him  whose  triumphs 
she  was  accustomed  to  share  and  to  enjoy.  Voltaire  had  also 
sent  a  letter  to  the  Abbe  de  Prades,  but  no  answer  was 
vouchsafed  either  to  Madame  Denis  or  to  the  poet.  It  was 
difficult  to  understand  the  reason  of  this  silence.  The  means 
of  communication  were  indeed  very  deficient,  and  it  took 
from  four  to  five  days  to  reach  Frankfort  from  Potsdam.  The 
King's  journey  would  have  increased  any  delay,  but  even 
taking  all  this  into  consideration  there  would  have  been  ample 
time  for  some  reply  to  have  reached  the  unhappy  petitioners. 

Already,  towards  the  end  of  the  year  1752,  soon  after  the 
publication  of  "  l'Histoire  du  Doctor  Akakia,"  Voltaire  had 
sent  the  King  a  letter  through  the  Margravine,  in  which  he 
defended  himself  and  endeavoured  to  regain  his  lost  favour. 
Who  could  have  possibly  been  a  better  mediator  than 
Wilhelmine  ?  Voltaire  could  only  turn  to  her,  as  he  felt 
uncertain  whether  Frederic  would  receive  any  communication 
from  him.  His  letter  to  the  Margravine  tallied  in  every 
respect  with  the  one  his  niece  had  written  to  Frederic.  Both 
had  exaggerated  the  facts,  for  they  mention,  amongst  other 
things,  having  been  guarded  by  twelve  soldiers,  whilst,  in 
fact,  there  were  only  two ;  neither  had  the  poet  the  intention 


82  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 

of  going  to  Baireuth  from  Frankfort.     He  wrote  the  follow- 
ing letter  on  the  same  evening  after  he  had  been  arrested. 

Madame, 
May  your  Royal  Highness's  compassion  be  aroused,  and 
may  your  goodness  protect  us.  My  niece  Madame  Denis,  who 
had  undertaken  the  journey  to  Frankfort  in  order  to  comfort 
me,  and  who  counted  on  coming  with  me  to  lay  ourselves  at 
your  feet,  implores  your  mediation.  A  woman  honoured  and 
respected  in  Paris  has  just  been  taken  to  prison  by  Mons. 
Freytag,  the  resident  official  of  His  Majesty  the  King,  your 
Brother.  This  man  in  the  King's  name  has  dragged  her  through 
the  crowd  to  the  same  house  to  which  I  have  been  transferred ; 
they  have  taken  her  maid  and  her  servant  from  her,  four 
soldiers  are  posted  before  her  door,  the  official  spends  the 
night  in  her  rooms,  and  this  is  the  reason  of  it  all.  When 
Mons.  Freytag  arrested  me,  in  the  King's  name,  on  the  1st 
June,  I  handed  over  to  him  all  those  letters  from  His  Majesty 
which  I  had  been  able  to  preserve.  He  asked  me  for  a 
volume  of  the  King's  poems  ;  this  book  was  packed  away  in 
a  trunk  which  was  to  leave  Leipzig  for  Hamburg.  Mons. 
Freytag  signed  two  notes  for  me,  written  in  the  following 
terms  :  "  As  soon  as  the  box  is  returned,  and  the  volume  of 
poems  the  King  desires  restored  to  him  has  been  handed 
over  to  me,  you  are  free  to  leave  and  go  wherever  you  please." 

The  book  in  question  arrived  on  the  17th.  I  wished  to  start 
to-day,  the  20th,  having  fulfilled  all  my  engagements.  They 
have  arrested  my  secretary,  my  niece,  and  me.  We  have 
twelve  soldiers  guarding  the  doors  of  our  rooms.  At  this 
moment,  whilst  I  am  writing,  my  niece  lies  in  convulsions. 
We  feel  certain  that  the  King  would  not  approve  such 
horrible  violence. 

Deign,  Madame,  to  send  him  this  letter.  Deign  to  assure 
him  that  in  the  midst  of  such  unheard  of  misfortunes  I  shall 
die,  filled  with  the  same  feelings  of  veneration,  and  the  same 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  83 

attachment  to  Ms  person.  I  implore  him  once  more  most 
humbly  for  forgiveness  of  my  faults.  I  always  thought  that 
he  would  have  allowed  me  to  try  and  defend  myself  against 
Maupertuis.  But  if  this  displeases  him,  there  shall  never 
again  be  a  question  of  it.  Once  more,  Madame,  my  heart 
has  not  failed,  and  never  will  fail  the  King,  and  it  will  ever 
remain  filled  with  the  deepest  and  most  tender  respect  for 
your  Royal  Highness. 

Alas,  it  was  formerly 

Brother  Voltaire. 

Frankfort,  20th  June,  At  ten  o'clock  at  night. 


Voltaire's  letter  reached  Baireuth  seven  days  later,  and  on 
the  29th  June  the  Margravine  wrote  to  the  King  from  The 
Hermitage  in  the  following  terms :  "I  have  just  received  a 
"  packet  from  Voltaire  and  Madame  Denis,  which  I  am  bold 
"  enough  to  send  you.  I  am  sorry  that  they  should  have 
"  turned  to  me,  and  fearing  lest  I  might  get  entangled  in  this 
"  bad  business,  I  send  you,  dearest  brother,  every  communi- 
"  cation  I  have  had  from  them. 

"  If  Voltaire  has  been  wanting  either  by  word  of  mouth  or 
"  otherwise,  in  the  proper  respect  due  to  you,  then  I  consider 
"him  the  most  wretched  and  unworthy  of  beings.  Such 
"  behaviour  can  only  draw  down  the  contempt  of  all  honour- 
"  able  people  upon  him.  Yet  his  age,  his  physical  weakness, 
"  and  the  loss  of  his  reputation  in  consequence  of  this  un- 
"  fortunate  catastrophe,  fill  me  with  pity  for  him.  A  man, 
"  when  driven  to  despair,  is  capable  of  anything.  In  your 
"  opinion,  dear  brother,  I  may  perhaps  think  too  highly  of 
"  him  with  respect  of  his  intellectual  powers,  but  I  feel  sure 
"  that  in  your  heart  you  will  not  upbraid  me  for  my  pity. 
"  Even  a  criminal  may  expect  that  much,  when  he  is  un- 
"  fortunate." 

g  2 


84 


CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


"Wilhelmine  in  reality  pitied  Voltaire  more  truly  than  she 
dared  avow  to  her  brother.  She  did  not  deny  Voltaire's 
faults,  but  she  could  understand  them. 

The  King  would  have  infinitely  preferred  that  Voltaire 
should  have  gone  straight  to  Baireuth,  instead  of  going  to 
Grotha  and  to  Frankfort.  He  would  have  been  able  to  send 
some  one  there  to  ask  him  to  return  his  key  of  office  and  the 
papers  in  question ;  but  this  would,  on  the  other  hand, 
have  placed  the  Margravine  in  a  painful  position,  and  it  is 
natural  that  she  should  have  been  anxious  to  be  spared  this, 
and  under  the  circumstances  prevented  Voltaire  and  his  niece 
coming  to  Baireuth.  The  following  lines,  written  to  her 
brother,  show  how  keenly  she  felt  the  rupture  between  the 
poet  and  Frederic,  and  how  desirous  she  was  of  acting  the 
part  of  peacemaker.  "  The  letters  Voltaire  has  written  to 
"  his  friends  here  (which  were  written  without  the  slightest 
"  feeling  of  suspicion  or  distrust,  and  only  shown  me  after 
"  much  entreaty)  speak  of  you  with  the  utmost  respect.  He 
"  considers  you,  and  justly  so,  as  the  great  man  that  you  are. 
"  He  complains  of  the  preference  you  have  shown  Mau- 
"  pertuis,  and  of  your  prejudice  towards  himself.  His 
"  sarcastic  remarks  on  the  former  are  so  comic,  that  I  assure 
"  you,  my  dear  brother,  I  was  unable  to  read  them  without 
"  laughing." 

On  the  7th  July  the  King  replied  to  his  sister  that  he  had 
already,  a  fortnight  before  this,  sent  orders  for  Voltaire's 
release,  and  that  of  his  niece.  This  order  was  already  in 
the  hands  of  the  official,  but,  being  of  a  timorous  nature, 
he  had  thought  it  necessary  to  wait  for  an  answer  to  a 
report  he  had  meantime  sent  to  the  King,  even  if  Voltaire 
should  thereby  be  detained  as  a  prisoner  for  a  few  days 
longer.  In  his  despair  the  poet  at  last  mustered  up 
courage  to  address  the  King  directly,  sending  his  letter 
by  the  Margravine,  to  whose  influence  he  finally  owed 
his  liberty. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  85 

Frankfort, 

June  17,  1753. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  most  earnestly  entreating  your 
Eoyal  Highness  to  deign  to  forward  this  petition  to  His 
Majesty.  Our  only  hope  is  in  his  protection.  The  cruel 
condition  in  which  I  find  myself  is  the  excuse,  if  I  am  only 
able  to  write  these  few  lines  watered  by  my  tears. 

I  lay  myself  at  his  feet. 

Yoltaire. 


86         CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Voltaire  at  length  left  Frankfort  on  July  7th,  1753.  He 
went  by  way  of  Mayence  and  Worms  to  Mannheim  and  the 
Castle  of  Schwetzingen,  where  the  Elector  Theodore,  of  the 
Palatinate,  received  him  most  kindly,  and  overwhelmed  him  with 
honours.  From  Schwetzingen  he  went  to  Rastatt  and  Kehl, 
making  a  stay  of  some  days  at  Strasburg.  The  thought  of  a 
possible  return  to  Potsdam  now  began  to  occupy  Voltaire's 
imagination.  It  would  almost  seem  as  if  he  had  felt  that 
there,  after  all,  he  had  had  a  home,  an  asylum  for  his  liberty 
of  thought ;  that  he  realized  that  he  had  held  a  distinguished 
position  at  the  brilliant  Court,  and  had  been  honoured  with 
the  friendship  of  a  great  Sovereign,  whom  he  could  in  return 
look  up  to  and  esteem.  No  fanatical  priests  existed  at 
Potsdam,  as  they  did  at  Colmar,  who  could  force  him  to  send 
for  a  Capucin  monk  at  Easter,  and  confess,  in  order  to  prove 
his  innocence  of  State  intrigues.  Where  could  he  find  such  a 
resting  place  ?  Surely  not  in  France,  where  a  longer  stay 
was  impossible  ;  he  had  been  given  to  understand  this  from 
Paris.  Voltaire  still  hoped  for  a  reconciliation  with  the  King, 
and  if  anyone  could  bring  this  about  it  was  the  Margravine. 

Strasbtjrg, 

22nd  December,  1753. 
Madame, 

I  should  consider  myself  guilty  towards 
your  Royal  Highness  and  untrue  to  my  dearest  feelings  if  I 
did  not  write  to  you  on  this  occasion. 

The  Duchess  of  Grotha  has  filled  me  with  surprise  and  grati- 
tude, by  informing  me  that  she  had  instructed  M.  de  Grotter 
to  speak  to  the  King,  your  brother,  and  to  implore  your  pro- 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  87 

tection  on  my  behalf  with  him.  Your  Boyal  Highness  knows 
I  have  never  wished  for  any  other.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
fatal  circumstance  of  my  niece's  journey,  I  should  have  come 
direct  from  Leipzig  to  Baireuth,  to  lay  myself  at  your  feet. 
The  harm  has  been  done,  but  is  there  no  remedy?  The 
King's  philosophy,  your  humane  nature,  your  advice,  your 
prayers,  will  all  these  be  of  no  avail  ?  Who  will  tell  the 
truth  to  a  great  man,  if  it  be  not  you,  Madame  ?  I  own  it, 
I  have  said  so.  I  have  written  it  to  the  King,  and  shall 
maintain  it  as  long  as  I  live,  that  I  erred  in  being  thus 
obstinate ;  but,  Madame,  is  this  a  State  crime  ?  It  is  literary 
childishness,  a  quarrel  about  algebra,  a  mere  nothing ;  and  it 
is  for  this  that  I  was  kept  a  prisoner  for  six  weeks  at 
Frankfort,  that  I  lost  the  season  at  a  watering-place  whilst 
seriously  ill,  that  my  niece  was  dragged  by  soldiers  through 
the  streets  of  Frankfort,  that  a  wretched  being  who  had  been 
alone  with  her  all  night,  got  rid  of  her  servants  and  tried  to 
outrage  her !  These  deeds  of  violence  were  committed  by  a 
certain  Freytag,  who  called  himself  one  of  the  King's  minis- 
ters. The  King  does  probably  not  know  that  this  man  had 
been  condemned  to  the  stocks,  and  to  hard  labor  at  Dresden. 
All  these  terrible  circumstances  are  well  known  at  all  other 
Courts,  but  his  Majesty  may  be  ignorant  of  them. 

And  as  to  myself,  what  is  my  position  ?  I  am  old  and 
infirm,  I  had  sacrificed  the  last  remaining  years  of  my  life  to 
the  King,  and  for  three  whole  years  I  have  only  lived  for 
him.  All  my  time  was  devoted  to  him,  and  I  gave  up  myself 
to  work  all  my  time  for  him,  he  knows  it,  will  he  therefore 
only  remember  a  literary  quarrel?  I  must  tell  you  the 
truth,  Madame,  for  it  is  right  that  your  Royal  Highness 
should  know  it !  The  whole  mischief  was  caused  by  the 
letter  the  King  had  published  against  Konig  and  against 
myself,  at  a  time  when  he  was  unaware  of  the  dispute.  I  do 
not  say  this  in  order  to  lessen  the  blame  attaching  to  myself. 
I  shall  always  acknowledge  that  I  was  much  in  fault  not  to 


88         CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

have  kept  silent,  and  to   have  been  so  obstinate.     Surely 

fifteen   years   of    the   greatest    devotion    should    excuse    a 

momentary  outburst  of  bad  temper.     I  venture  to  ask  your 

Royal  Highness  to  be  the  judge  of  this.     I  appeal  to  you 

whether  it  does  not  tend  more  to  the  glory  of  a  great  man 

to  forget  a  fault,  and  only  to  remember  past  services.     Shall 

so  many  mementos  of  the  correspondence  the  King  honoured 

me  with,  and  of  my  idolatry  for  him,  remain  to  posterity  for 

it  only  to  say :      The  end  of  all  this  was  a  prison,  and 

insults  offered  to  an  innocent  woman  ? 

Ah  !    Madame,  does  glory  only  consist  in  possessing  a  fine 

Army  ?      The  King  your  brother  loves  true  fame,  and  he 

deserves  it ;    he  loves  you,  and  therefore  will  believe  you. 

Madame,  it  is  an  opportunity  of  showing  the  true  greatness 

of  your  heart,  and  of  touching  his.     Do  just  as  you  think 

best,  I  leave  myself  entirely  in  your  hands.     I  will  mention 

nothing    to    your    Eoyal    Highness    of    what    is    said    at 

Versailles,  at  Vienna,  or  at  Paris,  or  London ;    you  must 

listen  to  your  heart  alone,  and  it  is  to  that  of  the  King  that 

you  must  appeal.     You  will  succeed,  as  you  have  undertaken 

to  do  so.     My  heart  will  for  ever  be  filled  with  the  most 

profound    and  tender  respect   for  your   Eoyal    Highness. 

Will  your  Eoyal  Highness  permit  me  to  lay  myself  at  the 

Margrave's  feet. 

Formerly  Brother  Voltaire  ? 

This  is  a  curious  letter.  According  to  a  communication 
from  the  Marquis  d'Argens  to  d'Alembert,  it  would  seem 
that  the  Margravine  had  endeavoured  to  make  peace  between 
her  brother  and  Voltaire.  But  her  efforts  proved  fruitless, 
as  did  also  those  of  the  Duchess  of  Gotha.  The  King  was 
not  to  be  moved.  Voltaire  was,  and  remained  to  him, 
nothing  more  than  "  formerly  Brother  Voltaire." 

"  With  reference  to  yourself,  dear  sister,"  Frederic  had 
written  to  Wilhelmine  on  April  12,  1753,  "  I  would  advise 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  89 


"you  not  to  write  to  him  yourself.  I  have  already  been 
"caught  by  doing  so."  This  warning, which  the  Margravine 
may  have  looked  on  as  a  command,  is  in  all  probability  the 
reason  that  no  more  letters  from  her  to  Voltaire  are  to  be 
found  from  that  period  till  1757.  It  is  likely  that  the  inti- 
macy was  kept  up  by  Adhemar  and  the  Marquis  de  Mont- 
perni.  Although  Wilhelmine  had  become  more  cautious, 
her  friendship  for  the  poet  remained  unimpaired,  and  it  was 
owing  to  her  that  an  apparent  intercourse  between  the  King 
and  Voltaire  was  maintained.  The  poet  wrote  her  civil  letters, 
and  sent  her  books,  amongst  others  the  "  Annales  de 
l'Empire,"  which  he  was  writing  at  Gotha,  and  afterwards 
completed  at  Colmar.  In  1754  he  was  able  to  send  a  few 
printed  copies  of  his  latest  historical  work  to  his  friends  at 
Baireuth. 

Colmar, 

25th  January,  1757. 
Madame, 

I  lay  this  fresh  expression  of  my  devotion  at  your 
Eoyal  Highness's  feet,  and  beg  you  to  believe  that  Brother 
Voltaire  is  always  the  same  ;  he  has  only  changed  his  cell ; 
he  has  not  changed  in  feeling,  and  perhaps  some  day  the 
very  renowned  and  very  respectable  Father  Superior  will 
know  that  his  monk  has  never  failed  him,  and  will  retain  his 
devotion  till  the  grave. 

I  entreat  your  Royal  Highness  to  permit  me  to  present, 
through  your  hands,  which  beautify  all  they  touch,  this  humble 
work  to  him  who  has  ever  been  the  object  of  what  I  thought, 
and  of  what  I  wrote,  and  who  is,  like  yourself,  the  best 
judge. 

I  shall  remain  all  my  life,  with  the  profoundest  respect 
and  inviolable  attachment  to  your  Eoyal  Highness,  the  very 
humble  and  very  obedient  servant, 

Voltaire. 


90  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 

Will  you  allow  me  to  enclose  two  copies  in  this  packet  for 
M.  d'Adhemar  and  M.  de  Montperni  ? 

The  Margravine  had  faithfully  discharged  the  commissions 
entrusted  to  her.  On  the  10th  of  March  (1754)  the 
King  sent  her  the  following  reply :  "I  was  much  surprised 
at  receiving  the  book  from  Voltaire  with  a  long  letter.  I 
will  have  it  acknowledged  by  the  Abbe  de  Prades,  so  that  I 
may  not  compromise  myself  in  any  way." 

Ten  months  had  elapsed  when,  on  October  23,  1754,  the 
hermit  of  Colmar  suddenly  received  a  message  which  caused 
him  as  much  surprise  as  it  did  satisfaction.  "  Sister  Wilhel- 
mine "  announced  her  arrival  at  Colmar  to  "  Brother 
Voltaire,"  and  begged  him  to  come  and  see  her. 

The  Margravine's  increasing  delicacy  of  health  had  given 
cause  for  serious  anxiety,  and  the  milder  and  softer  air  of 
Italy  and  the  South  of  France  was  deemed  an  imperative 
necessity.  She  was  on  her  journey  thither,  and  was  anxious 
to  see  her  friends. 

Voltaire  hastened  to  fulfil  the  request ;  "  the  meeting  was 
a  most  touching  one."  He  stayed  to  supper,  and  spent  eight 
hours  in  the  society  of  his  friend.  Their  conversation  was 
the  more  unrestrained  as  the  Margrave  was  not  expected  to 
arrive  till  next  day.  During  these  hours  the  ties  of  friend- 
ship, which  time  had  perhaps  loosened,  were  strengthened 
anew.     How  much  had  they  not  to  say  to  one  another ! 

Wilhelmine  endeavoured  to  pour  oil  on  the  troubled  waters, 
and  to  heal  the  wounds  which  the  sad  occurrences  at  Frank- 
fort had  made.  She  was  at  no  small  pains  to-day  to  convince 
him  that  the  King  was  not  so  much  to  blame,  and  endea- 
voured to  overcome  his  hatred  and  anger  against  him.  The 
Margravine  gave  him  a  costly  present,  and  finally  asked  to 
see  Madame  Denis,  who  came  and  paid  her  respects  next 
morning.  The  days  and  hours  spent  at  Rheinsberg, 
Baireuth,  and  Sans  Souci,  were  recalled;  Voltaire  and  the 
Margravine    discussed    the    theories    of    Descartes,  Locke's 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BA1REUTH.  91 

"Essay,"  and  laughed  and  joked  about  "La  Pucelle." 
"  She  overwhelmed  me  with  kindness,"  the  poet  writes ;  "  she 
"  made  me  a  beautiful  present.  She  insisted  on  seeing  my 
"  niece.  In  one  word,  she  had  but  one  thought,  that  of 
"  making  up  for  all  the  evil  wrought  me  in  her  brother's 
"name.  We  must  own  that  women, are  worth  a  deal  more 
"  than  men.     It  has  all  seemed  to  me  like  a  dream." 

The  Margravine  met  Voltaire  again  at  Lyons,  where  she 
made  a  lengthened  stay.  Here  she  saw  much  of  the 
Cardinal  Tencin  and  the  Jesuit  priests,  so  much  so,  that  one 
day  the  news  reached  Berlin  that  "  the  Margrave  and 
Margravine  had  become  Eoman  Catholics."  Voltaire  hastened 
to  pay  his  respects  to  Cardinal  Tencin,  Archbishop  of  Lyons. 
Having  passed  through  the  long  passages  leaning  on  his 
Secretary's  arm,  he  entered  the  Cardinal's  audience  room 
alone,  but  returned  a  few  minutes  later,  deeply  wounded  and 
offended  at  the  reception  he  had  met  with.  He  had  scarcely 
made  his  bow,  when  the  Cardinal  told  him  he  could  not 
invite  him  to  dinner,  as  he  was  in  such  bad  odour  at  Court. 
This  uncivil  treatment  was  fully  made  up  for  by  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  he  was  received  by  the  public,  and  by 
theMargravine'sgraciousbehaviour.  Voltaire  had  left  Colmar 
with  the  intention  of  settling  down  near  Lyons  for  the  rest 
of  his  life.  His  old  enemies  the  Jesuits,  however,  had  made 
it  impossible  for  him.  They  had  openly  burned  Bayle's 
Dictionary*  at  Lyons,  and  were  bitter  to  a  degree  in  their 
hatred  of  Voltaire.  "Dear  Friend,"  he  had  said  to  his 
secretary  after  his  interview  with  Tencin,  "  this  country 
does  not  suit  me ;  and  what  Kings  cannot  give,  or  rather, 
what  they  take  from  one,  are  peace  and  liberty."  The  old, 
frail  poet  was  therefore  forced  to  begin  his  wanderings  afresh, 
and  to  seek  a  resting  place  in  Switzerland. 


*  A  historical  and  critical  Dictionary  compiled  by  Bayle,  who  held  very 
advanced  views,  in  which  Voltaire  shared. 


92  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


At  first  he  bought  "  Maurion,"  a  house  situated  in  a 
vineyard  between  Lausanne  and  the  Lake  of  Geneva.  He 
only  lived  there  a  short  time,  as  he  missed  the  many  comforts 
to  which  he  and  his  niece  (a  spoilt  Parisian  lady)  were 
accustomed.  He  therefore  moved  to  a  larger  house,  "Les 
Delices,"  and  established  himself  there  in  a  grand  style.  It 
was  all  the  more  surprising,  as  he  had  always  been  con- 
sidered a  great  miser.  His  income  at  that  time  amounted 
to  160,000  francs,*  resulting  from  lucky  financial  specula- 
tions, and  not  so  much  from  the  sale  of  his  literary  works. 
With  these  latter,  i.e.,  his  manuscripts,  he  had  very  bad  luck. 
Voltaire  was  a  most  careful  and  anxious  writer,  and  following 
Horace's  principles,  kept  his  manuscripts  for  years  in  his 
desk  before  publishing  them.  Many  of  his  books  would 
never  have  appeared  during  his  lifetime,  had  he  not  been 
forced  to  publish  them  by  the  appearance  of  copies,  printed 
from  manuscripts  which  he  had  from  time  to  time  given 
to  Royal  personages  or  friends.  Such  had  been  the  case 
with  "  La  Pucelle,"  and  also  with  his  poems,  which  appeared 
with  the  incorrect  title  of  "  Sur  la  Religion  naturelle."  He 
had  written  it  hastily  for  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  sent 
a  copy  of  it  to  the  Margravine.  Meanwhile  a  very  faulty 
edition  of  it  was  published  at  Paris.  The  Margravine  alone 
could  have  lent  the  manuscript.  Voltaire  himself  remarked 
to  his  friends  that  "  she  must  have  made  copies  of  it." 
He  could  not  tell  her  so  to  her  face,  so  he  accused  a 
certain  princess'  of  Passau  Saarbriick,  who  never  existed, 
of  being  the  culprit. 

The  following  letter  is  of  interest,  as  it  may,  perhaps,  be 
of  use  in  deciding  the  literary  dispute  as  to  whom  Voltaire's 
poem  on  '  La  Loi  naturelle  '  was  dedicated  ?  " 

La  Harpe  asserts  that  it  was  first  dedicated  to  Frederic  the 
Great,  and  then  to  the  Margravine,  "  with  whom  he  spent 

*  £4,000  a  year. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  93 

some  time,  after  bis  quarrel  with  Frederic."  However,  as 
the  poet  was  not  at  Baireuth,  but  on  a  visit  to  the  Duchess 
of  Gotha  at  that  period,  it  must  have  been  to  the  latter. 
Collini,  Voltaire's  secretary,  affirms  this,  and  so  does  the 
author  himself  in  a  letter  to  D'Argental,  written  on  22nd 
March,  1756.  "lam  informed  that  'La  Eeligion  naturelle  ' 
"  has  been  printed  for  the  Duchess  of  Gotha,  as  well  as  for  the 
"  King  of  Prussia."  It  would  therefore  appear  from  this  that 
there  were  three  dedications,  one  to  Frederic  the  Great,  one 
to  the  Duchess  of  Gotha,  and  the  third  to  the  Margravine, 
but  this  latter  is  supposed  to  be  the  only  really  authentic  one. 

In  the  poem,  "  Sur  le  Desastre  de  Lisbonne,"  which 
Voltaire  mentions  in  his  letter  of  the  17th  February,  1756, 
to  the  Margravine  as  "  another  sermon,"  he  endeavours  to 
contradict  Pope's  maxim,  "All  is  good."  He  will  not  allow 
that  the  hope  of  a  better  and  higher  existence  hereafter  can 
in  any  way  compensate  for  the  sufferings  and  troubles 
endured  here  on  earth.  For  Voltaire,  there  did  certainly 
still  exist  some  hope  in  this  life,  and  that  was  to  regain  the 
King's  good  graces.  He  again  corresponded  with  the 
"  Solomon  of  the  North,"  who  sent  him  replies  through  the 
Abbe  de  Prades.  The  historical  events  of  the  next  years 
seemed  to  be  centred  in  Sans  Souci.  New  dangers  threatened, 
and  new  wars  awaited  the  King.  All  Europe  seemed  to 
rise  in  arms  against  him.  England  alone  stood  by  him, 
and  the  sympathy  felt  for  him  in  that  country  is  well 
expressed  in  a  letter  of  Pitt's:  "I  feel  the  most  grateful 
"  sentiments  of  veneration  and  zeal  for  a  Prince  who  stands 
"  the  unshaken  bulwark  of  Europe  against  the  most  powerful 
"  and  malignant  confederacy  that  ever  yet  had  threatened 
"the  independence  of  mankind."  Frederic  concluded  the 
important  treaty  with  England,  1756. 

All  this  took  place  without  Voltaire,  and  the  road 
leading  from  the  Lake  of  Geneva  to  Sans  Souci  seemed 
barred  to  him  for  ever. 


94  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 

MaTJRION,    NEAR   LAUSANNE, 

17th  February,  1756. 
Madame. 

You  are  one  of  those  divinities  who  are  made 
for  the  purpose  of  scattering  gracious  kindnesses.  It  is  said 
that  Grod  does  no  evil,  but  that  He  permits  it. 

The  Princess  of  Passau-Saarbriick  has  sent  a  particular 
work  on  natural  religion  to  Paris,  and  I  can  swear  to  your 
Royal  Highness  that  I  have  never  given  away  a  single  copy 
of  it,  except  to  you  alone.  The  King  your  brother  has  never 
dispossessed  himself  of  the  original.  It  was  a  very  crude 
poem.  I  have  corrected  it  a  good  deal  lately,  and  this  is  how 
it  commences : — 

"  Queen  without  pomp  and  unbeaet 
"  By  woman's  weakness,  woman  yet, 
11  In  reason  manlike,  firm  and  wise, 
"  Rather  thy  precious  qualities 
"  Than  the  seductive  fires  that  fly 
"  Forth  from  the  loadstar  of  thine  eye, 
"  Draw  me  to  thee.     Thou  worthy  sign 
"  Of  God's  own  handiwork  divine, 
"  Know  we  our  master,"  &c. 

After  this  little  beginning  your  Royal  Highness  cannot 
fail  to  take  the  sermon  and  the  preacher  under  your  protec- 
tion. The  King,  your  brother,  adds  to  his  glory,  which 
seemed  impossible  to  increase  ;  he  makes  treaties,  which  are 
worth  more  than  victories,  he  keeps  strangers  aloof  from  his 
country,  he  strengthens  the  thrones  of  other  sovereigns,  and 
makes  his  own  secure.  But  this  is  not  all,  he  sends  me  my 
"  Merope,"  converted  by  himself  into  an  opera.  All  this  is 
very  fine,  but  he  fails  to  love  me. 

Will  your  Royal  Highness  deign  to  be  amused  by  another 
sermon  which  I  have  the  honour  to  send  you,  and  then 
judge  between  Pope  and  myself.  I  pray  that  everything 
may  be  well  at  all  times  with  you.     I  lay  myself  at  his 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  95 

Royal  Highness  feet,  and  at  yours,  with  the  profonndest 
respect  and  the  eternal  zeal  of  Brother 

Yoltaire. 

Voltaire's  "  Essai  sur  l'Histoire  generale  "  appeared  at  the 
end  of  the  year  1756,  a  book  which  proved  how  incapable 
the  eighteenth  century  was  of  rightly  estimating  the  historic 
value  of  the  past,  especially  of  the  middle  ages.  Copies  of 
the  work  were  sent  at  once  to  the  author's  friends,  and 
to  the  Margravine.  Almost  at  the  moment  when  all  were 
reading  the  chapter  containing  the  account  of  Henry  IY's 
murder  by  Ravaillac,  the  news  arrived  from  Paris  of  the 
attempt  made  on  the  life  of  Louis  XV  by  Damien,  a 
former  servant  in  a  Jesuit  College.  The  King  had  been 
wounded  in  the  side  with  a  penknife,  whilst  getting  out 
of  his  carriage.  Voltaire  was  greatly  excited  by  the  news, 
less,  perhaps,  from  affection  for  his  sovereign,  whose  "gentil- 
homme  ordinaire  de  la  chambre  "  he  had  still  remained,  as 
from  hatred  to  his  old  enemies,  the  Jesuits.  Damien, 
Voltaire  was  convinced,  was  their  tool,  and  this  deed  had 
done  them  greater  injury  than  the  King,  of  which  he 
was  heartily  glad.  This  time,  however,  Voltaire  did  them 
injustice.  Damien  had  no  accomplices;  he  represented  the 
national  feeling  which  had  been  roused  by  the  opposition 
of  the  Parliament.  This  attempt  on  the  King  of  France's 
life  was  among  the  "extraordinary  news"  of  which  Voltaire 
speaks  in  his  next  letter.  It  is  probable  that  a  detailed 
account  of  the  event  was  enclosed  in  the  letter.  He  had 
received  close  on  fifty  letters  about  it  from  Paris,  showing 
how  great  the  excitement  was. 

Madame, 

Allow  me  to  reiterate  my  prayers  for  your 
Royal  Highness'  health,  and  to  thank  you  for  the  assurance 


96  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

given  me  by  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar  of  the  continuance  of 
your  favour. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  sending  you  news  from  Paris,  which 
may  strike  you  as  extraordinary,  and  will  exercise  your 
philosophy. 

I  am  ignorant  if  your  Royal  Highness  has  received  the 
copies  of  the  History  which  I  lay  at  your  feet.  I  flatter 
myself  that  the  King  your  brother  will  continue  to  furnish 
modern  History  with  the  most  brilliant  subjects,  but  to 
Caesar  alone  it  belongs  to  write  his  own  commentaries. 

I  am  still  persuaded  that  he  will  remember  that  he  made 
me  leave  my  country,  that  it  was  for  him  I  gave  up  my  King, 
my  employment,  and  my  family. 

If  he  were  at  Berlin,  I  should  take  the  liberty  of  asking 
him  to  send  me  some  melon  seeds,  and  I  would  beg  for  your 
Royal  Highness'  protection.  But  he  has  other  things  to  do 
than  to  honour  my  kitchen  garden  with  his  melons.  Will 
your  Royal  Highness  and  the  Margrave  always  deign  to 
accept  the  profound  respect  and  prayers  of  Brother 

Yoltaire. 


In  a  letter  of  the  18th  February,  Voltaire  mentions  an  invi- 
tation he  had  received  from  the  Empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia  to 
go  to  St.  Petersburg,  also  the  change  which  had  taken  place  in 
the  French  Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  pass  to  which 
things  were  brought,  when  verses  were  written  in  honour  of 
Madame  de  Pompadour,  as  had  been  the  case  with  the 
Abbe  Bernis,  Voltaire's  enemy,  then  his  friend,  and  finally 
neither.  He  was  sure  the  Abbe  would  seek  revenge  for  the 
contempt  with  which  Frederic  had  mentioned  him  in  the 
following  line,  "Evitez  de  Bernis  la  sterile  abondance." 
A  remark  of  that  kind,  made  by  a  King,  remains  an  ever- 
lasting wound  to  a  vain  and  conceited  poet.  Why  had  the 
King  not  been  more   cautious  ?     Was  he  not  aware  that 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  97 

everything  was  possible  at  Versailles,  and  that  an  Abbe, 
although  not  possessing  the  talent  of  a  Richelieu  and  Mazarin, 
might  yet  become  Minister  ?  Would  not  Madame  de  Pom- 
padour's creature  seek  to  revenge  himself,  and  perhaps  in  the 
most  unpleasant  manner  ?  A  coalition  between  France  and 
Austria  would  have  placed  the  Prussian  hero  in  a  most 
awkward  position.  As  the  letter  has  no  individual  interest 
it  is  not  given  here.  Voltaire  was  not  the  least  anxious  to  go 
to  Russia,  still  less  so  since  Russia  had  joined  the  Austrian- 
French  alliance.  The  French  were  on  their  road  to  the  West- 
phalian  provinces  of  Prussia,  and  the  Russians  would  not  long 
delay  to  invade  Prussia  from  the  other  side.  Voltaire  writes 
he  does  "  not  wish  for  Kings  or  an  autocratic  Empress,"  but 
he  desires  the  restitution  of  his  order  and  key  of  office  from 
Frederic,  "  ces  brimborions "  as  he  calls  them,  to  which, 
however,  he  attaches  great  importance.  He  makes  indirect 
allusions  to  the  sacrifices  he  has  brought  to  the  King,  but  he 
is  careful  not  openly  to  express  the  wishes  which  lay  nearest 
his  heart.  He  has  retired  into  private  life,  only  now 
and  then  he  has  a  longing  to  gain  fresh  laurels  at  the 
theatre  of  the  amiable  and  beautiful  Marquise  Grentil  de 
Langalerie,  instead  of  at  that  at  Lausanne.  He  becomes 
more  and  more  identified  with  the  small  world  of  that  town ; 
even  a  troupe  of  amateurs  act  better  in  his  eyes  than  the 
actors  on  the  royal  stage  at  Paris. 

Maurion, 

5th  March,  1757. 
Madame, 

Will  your  Royal  Highness  deign  to  continue 
your  favours  to  me,  may  Grod  protect  you  from  the  Russians, 
and  me,  poor  frail  creature,  from  the  ice  of  Petersburg  ! 
I  was  tempted  one  fine  sunny  day,  to  visit  next  summer 
this  capital  of  a  new  empire,  whose  history  they  wish  me 
to  write.     I  said  to  myself,    "  I  will  go  to  Baireuth,  and 

H 


98         CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

"  lay  myself  at  the  feet  of  my  protectress.  I  shall  obtain 
"  passports  from  the  King,  her  brother,  which  I  shall  owe 
"  to  the  protection  of  his  benevolent  sister !  "  The  north 
winds,  the  respect  I  have  for  the  hussars,  and  the  excellent 
assistance  a  traveller  meets  with  in  Poland,  have  destroyed 
my  castles  in  the  air,  and  I  have  reduced  myself  to  acting 
the  part  of  the  good  fellow  "  Lusignan,"  in  "Zaire,'*  before 
a  grave  Swiss  audience.  In  truth,  our  troupe  would  not 
have  been  unworthy  of  appearing  before  your  Royal 
Highness. 

There  is  a  talented  girl  at  Geneva,  Madame,  who  sings 
almost  as  well  as  Mademoiselle  Astrua,  and  who  is  especially 
inimitable  in  comic  operas.  Not  that  operas  are  given  at 
Geneva,  only  psalms  are  sung  there.  I  noticed  in  times  past 
that  your  Royal  Highness  was  inclined  to  attach  to  herself  a 
person  of  talent  and  intelligence.  This  young  lady,  who  is 
of  very  good  birth,  would  be  far  more  suited  for  the  Court  of 
Baireuth  than  for  Geneva.  "We  must  not,  however,  speak  of 
amusements  when  everything  is  preparing  itself  for  so 
serious  a  war.  The  Court  of  Versailles  has  just  made  eight 
"  Marshals  of  France,"  and  fifty  thousand  men  are  actually 
starting  for  Flanders ;  at  least  the  Quarter  Masters  have 
already  left.  The  King,  your  brother,  will  be  within  reach 
of  performing  far  greater  deeds  than  he  has  yet  done. 
Thence  he  will  turn  again  to  philosophy,  for  which  he  is 
born  as  well  as  for  heroism,  and  he  will  call  to  mind  a  man 
who  for  his  sake  had  left  his  country.  He  does  not  know 
how  much  I  was  attached  to  his  person. 

Your  chamberlain,  Madame,  who  is  returning  from  Italy, 
knows  that  one  can  live  happily  in  my  little  retreat  near 
Geneva  called  "  Les  Delices,"  but  he  is  aware  too,  that  a 
man  who  has  paid  his  court  to  your  Royal  Highness  can- 
not live  in  happiness  anywhere  else.  Will  you  permit  me 
to  offer  a  thousand  prayers  for  your  health,  nature  has 
endowed  you  with    everything   else.     But  of  what  use  are 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  99 

beauty,  greatness,  cleverness  and  charms,  when  the  body  is 
suffering  ? 

Will  your  Royal  Highness  and  the  Margrave  accept  the 
profound  respect  and  fervent  prayers  of  Brother 

Voltaire. 

Ai7x  Delices,  on  the  Lake  op  Geneva, 

15^  July,  1757. 
Madame, 

Brother  Voltaire  will  never  cease  in  his  devotion 
for  your  Royal  Highness,  and  you  will  therefore  permit  me 
to  join  the  number  of  those  who  deplore  the  death  of  your 
Royal  mother  deeply,  and  who  at  the  same  time  wish  the 
worthiest  daughter  of  the  departed  the  longest  and  hap- 
piest life. 

Oh !  Madame,  it  is  no  small  thing  to  be  happy,  in  fact  it 
is  easier  to  perform  great  deeds  than  to  preserve  the  true 
peace  of  mind;  and,  although  glory  and  fame  are  dearly 
bought,  yet  they  are  far  less  rare  than  this  happiness. 

Your  Royal  Highness  has  lost  a  mother;  you  see  your 
brother  constantly  exposed  to  the  greatest  dangers,  and  war  is 
raging  on  the  borders  of  your  country.  Ah  !  Madame,  how 
much  more  enjoyable  were  those  days  when  you  so  admi- 
rably represented  Roxane  at  your  theatre,  and  I  had  the 
honour  of  personating  the  part  of  Acomat,  when  I  appeared 
in  a  Chinese  costume,  and  was  witness  of  the  beautiful  fetes 
you  gave  your  Royal  brother. 

I  was  very  happy  then  ;  I  was  daily  near  your  Royal 
Highness,  lost  in  admiration  of  your  many  talents  and 
graceful  ways,  and  listening  to  the  sound  of  your  voice.  I  do 
not  know  what  will  be  the  end  of  this  cruel  war,  which 
paralyses  all  Germany  ;  but  of  this  I  am  certain,  that  there 
is  no  one  more  worthy  of  devotion  or  more  amiable  than  the 
Margravine  of  Baireuth.  Friend  and  foe  agree  on  this 
point ;  it  is  an  article  of  faith  which  no  one  dares  to  attack. 

h  2 


100  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

I  hear  with  pleasure  that  your  health  is  improving,  and 
that  you  have  no  reason  to  miss  the  climate  of  Provence  and 
Italy.  Baireuth  must  be  a  pleasant  residence  in  spite  of 
being  so  near  to  the  seat  of  war.  Perhaps  one  of  your  gentle- 
men who  is  travelling  has  told  you  that  you  are  really  wor- 
shipped in  the  little  Hermitage  on  the  Lake  of  Geneva.  You 
have  altars  wherever  it  can  be  imagined. 

I  pray  that  your  Royal  Highness  and  the  Margrave  will 
continue  your  favour  towards  me.  A  few  months  ago,  His 
Majesty  the  King,  your  brother,  was  gracious  enough  to 
write  to  me  again  ;  I  should  not  dare  take  such  a  liberty  as 
to  answer  him,  save  through  your  Royal  Highness's  kind 
offices,  which  you  will  always  grant  to  Brother  Voltaire; 
be  assured  of  his  deepest  respect. 

Voltaire  was  becoming  a  landed  proprietor  in  his  old  age. 
Besides  Maurion  and  a  house  in  Lausanne  he  had,  before 
acquiring  Ferney,  bought  a  charming  villa  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Greneva,  called  by  him  Les  Delices.  He  had  left 
Lausanne  to  establish  himself  near  Geneva,  where  the 
presence  of  the  famous  doctor  Tronchin  was  the  great  attrac- 
tion. As  long  as  he  was  near  him,  Voltaire  felt  he  could 
not  die.  What  a  curious  fancy,  for  the  older  he  grew,  the 
more  charm  life  seemed  to  have  for  him. 

It  is  from  "  Les  Delices  "  that  Voltaire's  next  letters  are 
written.  From  his  peaceful  retreat  he  observed  with 
philosophical  satisfaction  "  that  the  Sovereigns  of  Europe 
"  did  not  enjoy  the  same  peaceful  repose."  Half  Europe 
had  risen  in  arms  against  the  Prussian  King,  and  on  the 
18th  of  June,  1757,  he  sat  on  a  fallen  tree  near  the  battle- 
field of  Kolin  drawing  figures  in  the  sand,  lost  in  thought, 
and  quite  stunned  by  the  terrible  disaster  which  had 
overtaken  him,  who  was  only  accustomed  to  be  victorious. 
The  following  letter  from  the  Margravine  to  her  friend  at 
Geneva  gives  a  graphic  account  of  the  troubles  and  dangers 
which  beset  her  brother. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  101 


28th  October,  1757. 

Your  letters  have  all  safely  reached  me.  The  agitation  of 
my  mind  has  so  weighed  down  my  body,  that  I  have  been 
unable  to  answer  you  sooner.  I  am  surprised  that  you  are 
astonished  at  our  despair.  News  must  but  rarely  reach  your 
Cantons,  since  you  are  ignorant  of  what  is  taking  place  in 
the  world.  I  had  the  intention  of  giving  you  a  detailed 
account  of  the  series  of  our  misfortunes.  I  shall  do  so  but 
briefly.  The  battle  of  Kolin  was  already  won,  and  the 
Prussians  were  masters  of  the  battle-field  on  a  hill  on  the 
right  wing  of  the  enemy,  when  a  certain  evil  spirit,  whom 
you  never  liked,  took  it  into  his  head,  against  the  express 
orders  he  had  received  from  the  Xing,  to  attack  the  main 
body  of  the  Austrians,  which  caused  a  great  gap  between  the 
victorious  left  wing  of  the  Prussians,  and  the  main  body  of 
the  enemy.  It  also  prevented  this  wing  from  being 
supported.  The  King  filled  up  the  gap  with  two  regiments 
of  cavalry.  A  discharge  of  artillery  caused  them  to  retire 
and  take  to  flight.  The  Austrians,  who  had  had  time  to 
recover  themselves,  fell  upon  the  flank  and  rear  of  the 
Prussians.  The  King,  in  spite  of  his  skill  and  exertions, 
was  unable  to  remedy  the  disorder.  He  was  himself  in 
danger  of  being  taken  prisoner  or  killed.  The  first  battalion 
of  the  foot  guards  gave  him  time  to  retire  by  throwing  itself 
in  front  of  him.  He  saw  his  brave  men  massacred,  all  of 
whom  perished  with  the  exception  of  two  hundred,  after 
having  inflicted  cruel  slaughter  on  the  enemy.  The  blockade  of 
Prague  was  raised  next  day.  The  King  formed  two  armies. 
He  gave  the  command  of  the  one  to  my  brother  of  Prussia, 
and  kept  the  other  himself.  He  drew  a  line  from  Lissa  to 
Leitmeritz,  where  he  pitched  his  camp. 

Desertions  began  to  take  place  in  his  army ;  out  of  thirty 
thousand  Saxons,  there  scarcely  remained  two  to  three 
thousand.     The  King  had  Nadasti's  army  facing  him,  and 


102  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

my  brother,  who  was  at  Lissa,  that  of  Dawn.  My  brother 
drew  his  supplies  from  Zittau,  and  the  King  from  Leitmeritz. 
Dawn  crossed  the  Elbe  and  stole  a  march  on  the  Prince  of 
Prussia.  He  took  Gabel,  where  there  were  four  Prussian 
battalions,  and  marched  on  Zittau.  The  Prince  hurried  off  to 
go  to  the  succour  of  this  town ;  he  lost  his  train  and  his 
pontoons,  the  carriages  being  too  large  and  unable  to  pass 
through  the  narrow  mountain  roads.  He  arrived  in  time  to 
save  the  garrison  and  part  of  the  magazine.  The  King  was 
obliged  to  re-enter  Saxony.  The  two  combined  armies  en- 
camped at  Bautzen  and  Bernstadt ;  that  of  the  Austrians 
between  Gorlitz  and  Schonau,  in  unassailable  positions.  On 
the  17th  September  the  King  marched  against  the  enemy,  in 
order  to  try  and  take  Gorlitz.  The  two  armies,  face  to  face, 
kept  up  an  ineffectual  cannonade,  but  the  Prussians  gained 
their  end  and  took  Gorlitz.  They  pitched  their  camp  then 
upon  the  heights  of  Javernic,  extending  from  Bernstadt  as 
far  as  the  Neisse,  where  General  Winterfeld's  corps  lay,  and 
was  beginning  to  extend  itself  as  far  as  Eadomeritz.  The 
army  of  the  Prince  of  Soubise,  having  combined  with  that  of 
the  Empire,  had  advanced  to  Erfurt.  It  could  have  cut  off  the 
passage  of  the  Elbe  by  establishing  itself  at  Leipzig,  which 
would  have  made  the  King's  position  a  most  dangerous  one. 
He  therefore  left  the  army,  the  command  of  which  he  entrusted 
to  the  Prince  of  Bevern,  and  marched  with  all  speed  and  great 
secrecy  on  Erfurt.  He  very  nearly  surprised  the  army  of 
the  Empire ;  but  these  timid  troops  fled  in  disorder  into  the 
impenetrable  mountain  passes  of  Thuringia,  behind  Eisenach. 
The  Prince  of  Soubise,  too  weak  to  withstand  the  Prussians, 
had  already  retired  thither.  It  was  at  Erfurt,  and  afterwards 
at  Naumburg,  where  fate  launched  her  poisoned  arrows 
against  the  King.  He  was  informed  of  the]  shameful  treaty 
concluded  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  march  of  the 
Duke  of  Richelieu,  the  death  and  defeat  of  Winterfeld,  who 
was  attacked  by  the  whole  of   Nadasti's  corps,   consisting 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    HAIREUTH.  103 

of  twenty-four  thousand  men,  he  only  having  six  thousand 
to  defend  himself  with ;  he  heard  of  the  entry  of  the 
Austrians  into  Silesia,  and  of  that  of  the  Swedes  into  the 
Ulter-Mark,  where  they  seemed  to  be  taking  the  route  to 
Berlin.  Add  to  all  this,  from  Memmel  to  Konigsberg,  Prussia 
is  reduced  to  a  complete  desert.  Behold  a  sample  of  our  mis- 
fortunes. Since  then,  the  Austrians  have  advanced  on  Breslau. 
The  skilful  tactics  of  the  Prince  of  Bevern  has  prevented 
their  laying  siege  to  it.  At  this  present  time  they  are 
occupied  with  the  siege  of  Schweidnitz.  A  party  of  them, 
numbering  four  thousand  men,  has  levied  contributions  at 
Berlin  itself.  The  arrival  of  Prince  Maurice  made  them 
evacuate  the  King's  country.  I  have  just  been  told  that 
Leipzig  is  blockaded,  that  my  brother  of  Prussia  is  very  ill 
there,  the  King  is  at  Torgau,  judge  of  my  anxieties  and 
my  sufferings.  I  am  scarcely  in  a  state  to  finish  this  letter. 
I  tremble  for  the  King,  and  that  he  may  take  some  violent 
resolution.  Good-bye ;  wish  that  I  may  die,  it  is  the  hap- 
piest thing  which  could  happen  to  me. 

WlLHELMINE. 

Four  nations,  France,  Austria,  Russia,  and  Sweden,  were 
allied  against  Frederic  and  his  people.  How  could  he  with- 
stand them  ?  The  first  and  important  point  was  to  sever  the 
alliance  between  France  and  Austria,  and  to  induce  the 
former  to  make  peace.  At  the  Court  of  the  Margravine 
lived  a  certain  Louis  Alexandre  de  Eiqueti,  Comte  de 
Mirabeau,  one  of  the  same  family  from  which  the  famous 
revolutionist  Mirabeau  descended,  and  who  was  besides  a 
relation  of  the  Abbe  Bernis,  afterwards  a  minister.  Eiqueti 
was  sent  by  the  Margravine  to  Paris  with  the  full  knowledge 
of  the  King.  He  was  empowered  to  see  the  Marquise  de 
Pompadour,  and  to  offer  her  half  a  million  thalers*  if  she 

*  £75,000. 


104  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


would  make  peace.  The  mission  failed.  Louis  XV. 's 
favourite  could  refuse  half  a  million,  but  could  not  forget 
the  sarcastic  remarks  the  Prussian  King  had  made  about 
her.  The  knowledge  of  these  remarks  Frederic  owed  to  his 
friend,  who  had  treacherously  let  them  reach  the  Marquise's 


ears. 


Up  to  this  time  the  correspondence  between  Voltaire  and 
Wilhelmine  had,  with  a  few  exceptions,  been  of  the  most 
amusing  kind ;  but  now  that  sorrow  and  trouble  had  over- 
taken the  Margravine,  the  letters  bear  the  impress  of  this 
terrible  period  of  despair  and  danger.  It  was  at  this  moment 
that  the  brother  and  sister  showed  themselves  to  their  greatest 
advantage,  Frederic  in  his  undaunted  courage,  and  Wilhel- 
mine in  her  unselfish  devotion. 

But  Voltaire's  character,  on  the  other  hand,  shows  much 
indecision,  which  is  the  case  with  people  who,  like  him,  are 
governed  by  momentary  impulses,  and  not  by  firm  prin- 
ciples. Voltaire  was  unable  to  separate  the  interests  and 
feelings  of  his  own  person  in  judging  of  things ;  he  was 
never  consistent,  except  in  his  negation  of  all  that  was 
positive.  On  the  one  hand  he  spread  malicious  reports  about 
Frederic,  whilst  on  the  other  he  flattered  him.  One  day  he 
speaks  of  having  invented  a  new  weapon  of  war  against 
him,  and  the  next  he  extols  his  victories  with  pride.  His 
whole  nature  seems  made  up  of  contradictions  and  ambi- 
guities. But  even  he  must  have  been  touched  by  the  cry  of 
despair  from  Baireuth.  Such  was  the  sister's  distress,  that 
in  her  love  and  devotion  to  Frederic,  she  was  ready  to  start 
for  Paris  herself  to  settle  matters  for  him.  Her  character 
was  calculated  to  bring  matters  to  a  satisfactory  issue,  had 
not  her  enfeebled  health  prevented  the  execution  of  such 
a  plan. 

The  following  letter  from  Voltaire  is  evidently  an  answer 
to  one  from  the  Margravine,  which,  however,  is  not  in  our 
possession  : 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  105 

At  the  "  Delices," 

August,  1757. 
Madame, 

My  heart  is  more  than  ever  touched  by  the  kind- 
ness and  confidence  your  Royal  Highness  deigns  to  show  me. 
How  is  it  possible,  then,  that  I  should  not  be  enthusiastically 
moved  by  it  ?  I  observe  that  it  is  only  your  beautiful  soul 
which  makes  you  unhappy.  I  feel  myself  born  to  be  devoted 
with  idolatry  to  superior  and  sensitive  minds,  which  think  as 
you  do.  You  know  how  much  at  heart  I  have  always  been 
attached  to  the  King  your  brother.  The  more  my  old  age 
is  tranquil,  the  more  I  have  given  all  else  up,  the  more  I 
make  a  home  of  my  place  of  retirement,  the  more  I  am  de- 
voted to  this  philosophical  King.  I  write  nothing  to  him 
but  what  I  feel  at  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  nothing  but  what 
I  believe  to  be  perfectly  true ;  and  if  your  Royal  Highness 
thinks  my  letter  a  proper  one,  I  entreat  you  to  forward  it  to 
him,  as  was  the  case  with  the  former  ones. 

Tour  Royal  Highness  will  find  things  in  this  letter  bearing 
upon  matters  which  have  already  engaged  your  thoughts. 
Although  the  first  suggestions  regarding  peace  have  failed, 
I  am  persuaded  that  they  will  in  the  end  meet  with  success. 

Permit  me  to  venture  to  communicate  to  you  an  idea  of 
mine.  I  fancy  that  the  Marshal  de  Richelieu  would  be 
flattered  if  he  was  addressed  personally.  I  believe  that  he 
thinks  that  it  is  necessary  to  keep  up  a  balance,  and  that  he 
would  be  glad  if  the  interests  of  his  King  and  master  coin- 
cided with  those  of  his  allies  and  of  your  own.  If  upon  any 
occasion  you  wished  to  have  him  sounded,  it  would  not  be 
difficult. 

Nobody  would  be  more  fit  than  M.  de  Richelieu  to  take 
such  a  ministry.  I  am  bold  enough  to  mention  this,  Madame, 
in  the  supposition  that  the  King,  your  brother,  should  be 
obliged  to  take  this  decision,  and  I  venture  to  say  that  in  this 
case  he  would  be  under  great  obligations  to  you.     As  to  this 


106  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

idea,  it  is  not  even  a  suggestion,  far  less  advice,  which  it  does 
not  pertain  to  me  to  dare  to  give  ;  it  is  a  simple  wish  which 
has  its  origin  in  my  zeal  alone. 

Voltaire. 

19th  August,  1757. 

One  only  knows  one's  friends  when  one  is  in 
trouble.  The  letter  you  have  written  to  me  does  much  honour 
to  your  manner  of  thinking.  I  do  not  know  in  what  way  to 
show  you  how  sensible  I  am  of  your  conduct.  The  King  is 
as  much  so  as  I  am.  You  will  find  a  note  enclosed  herewith, 
which  he  has  ordered  me  to  send  you.  This  great  man  is 
always  the  same.  He  bears  his  misfortunes  with  a  courage 
and  firmness  worthy  of  him.  He  was  not  able  to  copy  the 
letter  he  was  writing  to  you.  It  began  with  some  verses. 
Instead  of  throwing  sand  over  it,  he  took  the  inkstand,  which 
is  the  reason  that  it  is  destroyed.  I  am  in  a  terrible  state, 
and  I  shall  not  survive  the  destruction  of  my  house  and  my 
family.  It  is  the  only  comfort  which  remains  to  me.  You 
will  have  some  fine  subjects  for  tragedies  to  workout.  Oh  ! 
times !  Oh !  morals !  You  will  perhaps  cause  tears  to  flow  by  an 
illusive  representation,  whilst  one  contemplates  with  dry  eyes 
the  misfortunes  of  a  whole  house,  against  whom  at  bottom 
there  is  no  real  cause  of  complaint.  I  cannot  say  more  to 
you  on  this  subject  ;  my  heart  is  so  troubled  that  I  do  not 
know  what  I  am  doing.  But  whatever  may  happen,  be 
assured  that  I  am  more  than  ever  your  friend. 

WlLHELMINE. 

At  the  Dblices, 

29th  August,  1757. 
Madame, 

I  have  been  moved  to  tears  by  the  letter  your 
Royal  Highness  has  honoured  me  with.     I  should  ask  your 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  107 

permission  to  come  and  lay  myself  at  your  feet,  if  I  could 
leave  my  unfortunate,  and  I  venture  to  say,  respectable  niece, 
who  has  followed  me  in  my  retirement,  and  who  has  given 
up  everything  for  my  sake.  Yet  in  my  obscurity  I  have  not 
for  a  moment  lost  sight  of  your  Royal  Highness  and  your 
august  house.  Your  generous  heart,  Madame,  is  undergoing 
severe  trials.  What  lias  happened  in  Sweden,  what  is  taking 
place  in  Germany,  tries  your  sensitiveness.  It  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  the  storm  will  not  extend  to  your  states,  but 
your  soul  experiences  all  the  shocks,  and  it  is  through  your 
heart  alone  that  you  can  be  unhappy.  May  such  well  founded 
alarms  not  injure  your  health.  But  those  about  you  will 
look  to  this  better  than  I  can.  It  is  much  to  be  desired  for 
your  sake,  for  Grermany,  and  for  Europe,  that  an  honourable 
peace,  based  on  all  the  old  treaties,  should  put  an  end  to  so 
much  trouble  and  to  so  many  misfortunes.  But  it  does 
not  appear  to  me  that  this  peace  is  so  near. 

Under  these  circumstances,  Madame,  may  I  be  permitted  to 
place  this  letter,  that  I  have  ventured  to  write  to  his  Majesty 
the  King,  your  brother,  under  your  protection.  Your  Royal 
Highness  will  allow  it  to  reach  him  if  you  think  it  proper. 
In  any  case,  you  will  become  aware  of  my  sentiments,  and 
I  am  sure  that  you  will  approve  of  them.  Meanwhile  I  shall 
never  consider  things  desperate  as  long  as  the  King  has 
an  army.  He  has  often  conquered,  and  can  conquer  still, 
but  if  time  and  the  number  of  his  enemies  leave  him  nothing 
but  his  courage,  this  courage  will  be  respected  by  Europe. 
The  King,  your  brother,  will  always  remain  a  great  man,  and 
if  he  experiences  misfortunes  like  so  many  other  Princes,  he 
will  have  a  new  kind  of  glory.  I  wish  he  were  persuaded 
of  his  own  personal  worth,  for  he  has  reached  that  point  where 
many  people  of  all  ranks  respect  him  more  as  a  man  than  as 
a  King.  Who,  Madame,  must  feel  more  than  you  do,  what  it 
is  to  be  superior  to  one's  birth.  It  would  take  up  too  much 
time  were  I  to  say  all  I  thought,  and  all  that   my  tender 


108  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

respect  inspires    me    with.      Deign  to  read  the  heart  of 
Brother 

Voltaire. 

12th  September,  1757. 

Tour  letter  has  greatly  touched  me,  and  the  one  you 
addressed  to  the  King  has  produced  the  same  effect  on  him. 
I  hope  that  you  will  be  satisfied  with  his  answer,  as  far  as 
it  concerns  yourself ;  but  you  will  be  as  little  so  as  I  am, 
with  his  resolves.  I  had  flattered  myself  that  your  reflections 
would  have  made  some  impression  on  his  mind.  You  will 
perceive  the  reverse  in  the  note  enclosed.  It  only  remains  to 
me  to  follow  his  fate,  if  it  is  unfortunate.  I  have  never 
prided  myself  on  being  a  philosopher,  I  have  tried  to  become 
one.  The  little  progress  I  have  made  has  taught  me  to  despise 
greatness  and  riches  ;  but  I  have  found  nothing  in  philosophy 
which  could  heal  the  wounds  of  the  heart,  except  the  means  of 
getting  rid  of  one's  sorrows  by  ceasing  to  live.  The  state  in 
which  I  am  is  worse  than  death.  I  see  the  greatest  man  of 
this  century,  my  brother,  my  friend,  reduced  to  the  direst 
extremity.  I  see  my  whole  family  exposed  to  dangers  and 
perils,  my  fatherland  torn  by  merciless  enemies,  the. country 
in  which  I  am  perhaps  threatened  by  the  same  misfortunes. 
Would  to  God  that  I  alone  had  to  bear  all  the  troubles  I  have 
just  described  to  you ;  I  would  endure  them  with  fortitude. 

Forgive  me  for  this  detail.  You  encourage  me  by  the 
interest  you  take  in  what  concerns  me,  to  open  my  heart  to 
you.  Alas,  hope  is  almost  banished  from  it.  Fortune,  when 
it  changes,  is  as  consistent  in  its  persecutions  as  it  is  in  its 
favours.  History  is  full  of  these  examples,  but  I  have 
nowhere  found  any  in  it,  to  compare  to  those  we  see,  nor  so 
inhuman  and  cruel  a  war  among  civilized  populations.  You 
would  groan  were  you  aware  of  Germany  and  Prussia's  sad 
situation.      The  cruelties  which  the  Russians  perpetrate  in 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  109 

this  latter  country  make  nature  shudder.  How  happy  you 
are  in  your  hermitage,  where,  resting  on  your  laurels,  you  can 
philosophize  in  cold  Hood  on  the  errors  of  men.  I  wish  you 
all  the  happiness  possible  in  it.  If  fortune  favours  us  again, 
count  on  my  entire  gratitude.  I  shall  never  forget  the  proofs 
of  attachment  you  have  given  me,  my  tender  feelings  are 
guarantees  to  you  for  it ;  I  am  never  a  friend  by  halves,  and 
I  shall  always  truly  be  one  to  Brother  Voltaire. 

WlLHELMINE. 

Many  compliments  to  Madame  Denis  ;  continue,  I  beg  of 
you,  to  write  to  the  King. 


110        CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

Voltaire  again  assumed  the  part  of  a  diplomatist  and  secret 
agent,  and  was  this  time  more  skilful  and  successful,  for  the 
first  of  the  four  previous  letters  would  really  do  an 
experienced  politician  honour,  without  taking  his  friendly- 
feelings  into  account.  Frederic  was  really  inclined,  and  did 
in  fact  follow  Voltaire's  suggestion,  and  entered  into  nego- 
tiations with  the  Marshal  de  Richelieu.  The  Marshal  was 
an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  King,  and  adhered  to  the 
traditional  hatred  of  his  family  against  the  house  of 
Hapsburg.  At  Versailles,  however,  there  was  a  certain 
amount  of  sympathy  for  Austria,  notwithstanding  the  lack 
of  common  interests  between  the  houses  of  Bourbon  and 
Hapsburg.  The  alliance  was  more  one  of  mutual  spite 
against  Prussia.  Frederic  sent  Colonel  Von  Balbi  disguised 
into  Richelieu's  camp,  and  although  his  mission  was  unsuc- 
cessful, still  the  time  which  the  negotiations  occupied  was 
a  gain.  Wilhelmine  had  forwarded  Voltaire's  note  to  the 
King,  who  had  replied  to  it  in  the  following  somewhat  curt 
terms :  "I  have  been  informed  of  the  interest  you  take  in 
"my  successes  and  my  reverses.  Nothing  remains  to  me 
"  but  to  sell  my  life  for  the  highest  possible  price."  It  is  to 
be  observed  that  Voltaire's  attitude  during  this  period  did 
not  please  Frederic,  yet  at  the  same  time  he  was  unwilling 
to  reject  his  propositions.  It  is  possible  the  King  had  not 
much  hope,  but  he  was  nevertheless  anxious  to  find  a  way 
out  of  these  labyrinths.  The  unfortunate  retreat  of  the 
Prince  of  Prussia,  the  loss  of  the  magazine  of  Zittau,  the 
defeat  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  at  Hasterbeck  and  the 
consequent    convention   of    Closter-Seven,    the   unsuccessful 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  Ill 

fight  by  Moys,  the  death  of  General  Winterfeld,  the 
Swedish  invasion  into  Pomerania,  that  of  the  Austrians  into 
Silesia,  and  the  march  of  General  Hadik  on  Berlin — every- 
where defeats,  disasters ;  these  were  too  much  for  a  human 
being  to  bear  with  equanimity. 

Vaincu,  persecute,  fugitif  dans  le  monde, 

Trahi  par  des  amis  pervers, 
Je  souffre  en  ma  douleur  profonde 

Plus  de  maux  dans  cet  univers 
Que  dans  les  fractions  de  la  fable 

N'en  a  jamais  souffert  Promethee  aux  enfers. 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  thought  of  death  should 
have  been  full  of  comfort  to  him.  With  death  he  would  find 
peace,  liberty,  deliverance.  "  I  am  determined  to  throw 
"myself  upon  the  first  General  among  the  enemy  who 
"  approaches  me  near  enough  in  battle,  at  the  risk  of  what- 
"  ever  may  happen.  I  shall  thank  God  for  His  clemency 
"  if  He  allows  me  to  die  sword  in  hand." 

These  words  were  addressed  by  Frederic  to  his  sister  on 
the  17th  September,  1757.  "  You  are  the  only  thing  which 
"  remains  to  me  on  earth,"  he  continues,  "  it  is  you  alone  who 
"  attach  me  to  it ;  my  dearest  friends  and  relations  are  in 
"  the  grave,  I  have  lost  everything."  No,  he  had  not  lost 
everything,  for  his  sister  remained  to  him,  to  share  his 
misfortunes  and  to  speak  to  him  words  of  comfort  and 
encouragement.  She  was  in  a  most  precarious  state  of 
health  at  this  time,  and  these  constant  anxieties  doubtless 
hastened  her  end.  "  Oh  !  my  dear  Brother,  whatever  may 
"  befall  you,  I  shall  not  survive  you,"  and  she  kept  her 
word,  this  faithful  sister,  by  her  death  on  the  night  of 
Frederic's  defeat  at  Hochkirch. 

The  moment  of  greatest  despair  in  Frederic  II's  life  is 
expressed  in  a  few  lines  he  wrote  to  the  Marquis  d'Argens, 
but  it  was  only  for  a  moment  that  his  courage  was  near 


112        CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

sinking ;  a  letter  to  Voltaire  shows  him  the  undaunted  hero 

of  old.    " 

"  Je  vais  en  effrontant  1'orage 

"  Penser  vivre  et  mourir  en  roi  !  " 

The  Margravine  sent  then  this  verse  to  her  "  Swiss  friend  " 
on  the  16th  October,  and  adds  the  following  lines. 

16th  October,  1757. 

Overwhelmed  by  the  sufferings  of  mind  and  body,  I  can 
only  write  you  a  little  letter.  You  will  find  one  enclosed 
herewith,  which  will  reward  you  a  hundred-fold  for  the 
brevity  of  my  own.  Our  situation  is  always  the  same.  A 
grave  is  the  limit  of  our  view.  Although  everything  seems  lost, 
things  remain  to  us  which  cannot  be  taken  from  us;  they  are 
fortitude,  and  the  feelings  of  the  heart.  Be  persuaded  of 
our  gratitude,  and  of  all  the  sentiments  which  you  deserve 
by  your  attachment  and  way  of  thinking,  worthy  of  a  true 
philosopher. 

WlLHELMINE. 

On  the  5th  November,  1757,  the  King  gave  the  order  from 
the  Herrenhaus  at  Rossbach  to  "  march."  This  day  was  to 
decide  his  fate,  and  the  cannonade  at  Rossbach  dispersed  the 
dark  clouds  which  had  gathered  round  him ;  at  the  Castle 
of  Baireuth,  Wilhelmine  sat  waiting  for  tidings  of  victory, 
hope,  and  life !  The  next  letter  describes  the  eventful  day  at 
Rossbach. 

23rd  November,  1757. 

My  body  has  succumbed  under  the  agitations  of  my  mind, 
which  has  prevented  my  answering  you.  I  shall  entertain 
you  to-day  with  far  more  interesting  news  than  that  concern- 
ing myself.  I  had  informed  you  that  the  allied  army  had 
blockaded  Leipzig ;  I  continue  my  narrative.     On  the  26th 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  113 

the  King  threw  himself  into  the  town  with  a  corps  of  ten 
thousand  men  ;  Marshal  Keith  had  already  done  so  with  a 
similar  number  of  troops.  A  lively  skirmish  took  place 
between  the  Austrians,  the  Imperial  troops,  and  the  Prus- 
sians ;  these  latter  gained  the  whole  advantage,  and  took  five 
hundred  Austrians  prisoners.  The  allied  army  retired  to 
Mersebourg,  burned  the  bridge  of  that  town  and  of  Weissen- 
feld ;  the  one  at  Halle  had  already  been  destroyed.  They 
pretend  that  this  quick  retreat  had  been  caused  by  the  earnest 
representations  of  the  Queen  of  Poland,  who  foresaw,  with 
good  reason,  the  total  ruin  of  Leipzig  if  the  siege  were  con- 
tinued. The  plan  of  the  French  was  to  become  masters  of 
the  Sale.  The  King  marched  on  Mersebourg,  where  he  fell 
upon  the  French  rear-guard,  gained  possession  of  the  town, 
and  took  five  hundred  French  prisoners.  The  Austrians 
who  had  been  taken  in  the  skirmish  before  Leipzig,  had  been 
shut  up  in  an  old  castle  on  the  walls  of  the  town.  They 
were  obliged  to  give  up  their  abode  to  the  five  hundred 
French,  because  it  was  more  convenient,  and  they  were 
transferred  to  the  Bridewell.  It  is  in  order  to  make  you 
aware  of  the  attentions  shown  to  your  country  that  I  tell 
you  these  trifles.  Marshal  Keith  marched  to  Halle,  where 
he  reconstructed  the  bridge.  The  King  having  no  pontoons, 
made  use  of  trestles,  on  which  boards  were  fastened,  and  in 
this  manner  restored  the  two  bridges  of  Mersebourg  and  of 
Weissenfeld.  The  corps  he  was  commanding  joined  that  of 
Marshal  Keith  at  Bornerode.  This  latter  had  been  rein- 
forced by  eight  thousand  men  under  the  command  of  Prince 
Ferdinand  of  Brunswick. 

On  the  4th  they  went  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy,  who  was 
encamped  on  the  heights  of  St.  Micheln.  The  position  being 
one  which  could  not  be  attacked,  the  King  pitched  his  camp 
in  a  plain  at  Possbach.  He  had  a  hill  with  a  gentle  slope  in 
his  rear.  On  the  5th,  whilst  the  King  was  quietly  dining 
with  his   generals,  news   was  brought   him  by  two  of  the 

i 


114  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

patrols  that  the  enemy  were  making  a  movement  on  their 
left.  The  King  got  up  from  table  ;  the  cavalry,  which  was 
out  foraging,  was  recalled,  and  they  remained  quiet,  think- 
ing the  enemy  were  marching  on  Freiburg,  a  little  town 
which  was  in  the  rear,  but  it  became  apparent  that  they 
were  drawing  near  the  left  flank  of  the  Prussians.  Upon 
this  the  King  struck  his  camp,  and  filed  off  to  the  left  on  to 
the  hill.  This  was  done  an  galop  both  by  the  infantry  and 
by  the  cavalry.  This  manoeuvre  was,  according  to  all  appear- 
ance, executed  to  deceive  the  French.  This  army  in  con- 
fusion, at  once  as  if  by  magic,  was  ranged  in  battle  order 
in  one  line.  The  artillery  then  opened  a  terrific  fire,  so  that 
the  French  to  whom  I  have  spoken,  say  that  each  discharge 
killed  or  wounded  eight  or  nine  men.  The  musketry  fire 
took  equal  effect.  The  French  continued  to  advance  in 
column,  in  order  to  attack  with  the  bayonet.  They  were  not 
more  than  a  hundred  yards  off  from  the  Prussians,  when  the 
Prussian  cavalry,  making  a  detour  on  the  flank  of  the  French 
cavalry  charged  with  incredible  fury.  The  French  were  thrown 
into  confusion  and  fled.  The  infantry,  attacked  in  flank,  over- 
whelmed by  the  artillery  fire,  charged  by  battalions  and  the 
regiment  of  gensdarmes,  were  cut  to  pieces  and  entirely 
routed. 

Prince  Henry,  who  commanded  on  the  right  of  the  King, 
gained  the  greater  part  of  this  victory,  in  which  he  received 
a  slight  wound.  The  loss  of  the  French  is  very  great.  In 
addition  to  the  five  thousand  prisoners  and  more  than  three 
hundred  officers  taken  in  this  battle,  they  lost  nearly  all  their 
artillery.  In  fact,  all  I  tell  you  I  have  heard  from  fugitives  and 
from  the  reports  of  some  Prussian  officers.  The  King  only 
had  time  to  notify  the  victory  to  me,  he  has  not  been  able  to 
send  me  any  account  of  it.  The  King  singles  out  and  cares 
for  the  French  officers,  as  he  would  do  for  his  own.  He  has 
had  the  wounded  dressed  in  his  presence,  and  has  given  the 
most  precise  orders  that  they  should  want  for  nothing.   After 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  115 

having  pursued  the  enemy  to  Spielberg,  he  returned  to 
Leipzig,  from  where  he  started  on  the  10th  to  march  on 
Torgau.  The  Marshal- General  of  the  Austrians,  who  had 
appeared  to  intend  entering  the  province  of  Brandenburg 
with  thirteen  to  fourteen  thousand  men,  retired  to  Bautzen 
on  the  approach  of  the  Prussians.  The  King  is  pursuing 
him  in  the  hopes  of  being  able  to  attack  him.  His  plan  is 
then  to  enter  Silesia.  Unfortunately  we  have  to-day  learned 
the  fall  of  Schweidnitz,  which  capitualated  on  the  13th,  after 
having  sustained  an  assault.  This  news  causes  me  the  greatest 
anxiety.  To  reply  to  the  subject  of  your  two  letters,  I  wish 
to  tell  you  that  deafness  is  becoming  an  epidemic  evil  in 
France.  If  I  dared,  I  would  add  that  blindness  is  combined 
with  it.  I  could  tell  you  many  things  by  word  of  mouth  I 
cannot  entrust  to  my  pen,  which  would  convince  you  of  the 
good  intentions  that  there  have  been.  They  still  exist.  I 
will  write  on  the  first  occasion  to  the  Cardinal.*  Assure  him, 
I  pray  you,  of  all  my  esteem,  and  tell  him  that  I  persist  in 
my  system  of  Lyons,  but  that  I  wish  much  that  most  people 
were  of  his  way  of  thinking,  as  in  that  case  we  should  soon  be 
in  harmony.  I  am  very  mad  to  mix  myself  in  politics; 
my  mind  is  fit  for  nothing  else  but  for  a  hospital.  You  make 
me  exert  mind  and  body  in  order  to  write  such  a  long  letter. 
I  can  only  procure  for  you  the  pleasure  of  narratives.  I  must 
take  advantage  of  these,  as  I  cannot  give  you  better  ones, 
and  such  as  my  gratitude  desires.  Many  compliments  to 
Madame  Denis,  and  count  on  having  no  better  friend  than 

WlLHELMINE. 

The  period  from  the  18th  June  till  the  5th  November, 
1757,  brought  that  crisis  in  the  life  of  the  King  which  we 
can  so  often  trace  in  the  histories  of  great  heroes.    That  crisis 

*  De  Tencin. 


116  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

involved  the  terrible  alternative  "  to  stand  or  to  fall." 
Great  men  are,  we  might  almost  say,  a  destiny  in  themselves, 
and  on  them  depends  the  fate  of  nations  and  of  kingdoms. 
In  this  particular  case,  the  past  and  the  future  of  Prussia's 
crown,  honour  and  existence  were  at  stake.  It  was  at  the 
moment  of  his  direst  misfortunes  that  Frederic  attained  the 
height  of  his  greatness.  If  the  desire  to  make  a  name  for 
himself  had  tempted  the  King,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  to 
declare  war,  not  the  less  was  he  now,  at  the  age  of  forty-five, 
imbued  with  the  conviction  that  he  was  the  chosen  tool  of 
Providence,  destined  to  work  out  Prussia's  welfare  under 
unheard  of  difficulties.  He  saw  that  it  was  a  struggle  of 
historical  importance,  that  it  was  not  Prussia  and  Austria 
who  confronted  each  other,  but  the  power  of  a  spirit  in  the 
world  fighting  for  supremacy  over  an  old  and  decaying 
order  of  things. 

Voltaire  was  truly  devoted  to  the  Margravine,  but  equally 
so  to  the  King.  He  loved  him  with  the  passion  a  poet 
displays  for  his  hero,  and  could  not  look  on  with  equanimity 
at  the  defeat  of  a  great  and  powerful  man  by  a  combination 
of  smaller  powers.  He  saw  that  a  separate  peace  with 
France  was  the  only  thing  which  could  save  his  royal  friend, 
while  it  was  the  best  way  for  France  to  extricate  herself  from 
a  bad  business.  Voltaire  therefore  advised  the  Margravine 
to  enter  into  negotiations  with  the  French  Court  through 
the  agency  of  the  Cardinal  de  Tencin,  Archbishop  of  Lyons, 
formerly  Minister  of  Foreign  affairs,  who  still  exercised 
great  political  influence  at  the  Court  of  Versailles.  We 
remember  Wilhelmine's  stay  at  Lyons,  and  the  exchange  of 
civilities  between  her  and  the  Cardinal,  and  we  also  call  to 
mind  the  visit  Voltaire  paid  to  him  there.  The  poet,  how- 
ever, overcame  his  bitter  feelings  at  the  treatment  he  had 
then  received,  out  of  devotion  to  the  Margravine,  out  of 
interest  for  Prussia,  and  not  least,  because  of  his  love  for 
political  intrigue.     He  knew  Tencin,  and  also  knew  that  a 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  117 

Cardinal's  hat  was  no  compensation  for  an  office  of  State,  and 
that  since  he  had  left  the  Ministry,  he  was  more  than  ever 
inclined  to  mix  himself  up  in  the  affairs  of  France.  It  was 
not  the  Cardinal  who  took  the  initiative  in  this  matter,  but 
Voltaire  himself.  This  becomes  evident  through  the  recently 
discovered  correspondence  between  him  and  the  banker 
Tronchin.  Tronchin  was  brother  to  the  famous  doctor  at 
Geneva,  and  was  acquainted  both  with  the  poet  and  Tencin, 
who  availed  themselves  of  his  services  in  financial  specula- 
tions. The  banker  at  Lyons  was  the  Cardinal's  agent,  as  the 
Margravine  was  her  brother's,  whilst  Voltaire  was  the  channel 
of  communication  between  France  and  Germany.  Wilhel- 
mine  besides  had  the  assistance  of  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar 
and  Spada,  whom  she  had  taken  into  her  confidence,  and 
who  carried  on  most  of  the  correspondence. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  among  the  letters  which  passed  be- 
tween the  Margravine  and  her  brother,  as  well  as  among 
those  of  the  King  to  Voltaire,  those  from  the  poet  are  wanting, 
which  bear  reference  to  these  negotiations.  Probably  most  of 
them  were  written  to  the  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  and  those 
addressed  to  the  Margravine  were  sent  on  to  the  King. 

On  October  24th,  1757,  Voltaire  received  a  communication 
from  Tronchin,  in  which  he  stated  that  the  Cardinal  would 
be  willing  to  forward  a  letter  from  the  Margravine  to  Louis 
XV.  Wilhelmine  informed  her  brother  of  this  fact.  Even 
the  battle  of  Leuthen,  on  the  5th  December,  1757,  did  not 
interrupt  the  negotiations.  Frederic  was  still  anxious  to  rid 
himself  of  the  French,  whilst  the  Court  of  Versailles  was 
more  inclined  to  listen  to  propositions. 

The  Margravine  seems  to  have  written  two  letters  to  the 
"Chapeau  rouge,"  as  she  jokingly  calls  Tencin.  The  first  was 
full  of  conventionalities,  in  the  second  she  would  most  likely 
have  entered  more  fully  into  the  subject,  and  her  letter  to 
Louis  XV  was  enclosed  in  it.  These  two  she  sent  to  Voltaire, 
accompanied  by  the  following  lines. 


118  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 


27 ih  December,  1757. 

If  my  body  was  to  lend  itself  to  the  promptings 
of  my  mind,  you  would  receive  news  from  me  by  every  post. 
I  am,  you  would  tell  me,  as  eccentric  as  you  are,  and  yet  I 
write.  To  this  I  reply,  that  there  is  only  one  Voltaire  in 
the  world,  and  he  must  not  judge  others  by  himself. 
But  enough  of  this  frivolity.  I  see  your  impatience  to  be 
informed  of  things  which  interest  you.  A  battle  won, 
Breslau  in  the  King's  power,  thirty-three  thousand  prisoners, 
seven  hundred  officers  and  fourteen  generals  taken,  besides  a 
hundred-and-fifty  cannon,  and  four  thousand  waggons  con- 
taining provisions,  baggage  and  ammunition,  is  the  news  that 
I  am  able  to  give  you.  I  have  not  done.  Four  thousand 
dead  were  left  on  the  battlefield,  four  thousand  wounded 
were  found  at  Breslau,  and  the  deserters  are  calculated  at 
four  thousand  five  hundred.  You  can  count  on  this  being  a 
fact,  not  only  acknowledged  by  the  King  and  the  whole 
army,  but  even  by  a  crowd  of  Austrian  deserters  who  have 
been  here.  The  Prussians  lost  five  hundred  killed,  and  have 
three  thousand  wounded.  This  action  is  unique,  and  seems 
fabulous.  The  Austrians  were  eighty  thousand  men  strong. 
The  Prussians  only  had  thirty-six  thousand.  The  victory 
was  hard  fought  for,  but  the  whole  affair  only  lasted  four 
hours.  I  do  not  feel  happy  at  this  prodigious  change  of 
fortune.  I  must  add  one  more  anecdote.  The  corps  com- 
manded by  the  King  had  marched  forty-two  German  miles 
in  a  fortnight,  and  had  had  only  one  day  to  rest  before 
fighting  this  memorable  battle.  The  King  can  say  as  Csesar 
did  :  "I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered."  He  has  informed  me 
that  he  is  at  present  only  troubled  how  to  feed  and  where  to 
post  this  enormous  number  of  prisoners.  The  letter  you 
wrote  him,  in  which  you  ask  him  for  the  account  of  the 
battle  of  Merseburg,  was  carried  off  with  mine.  Happily, 
there  was  nothing  in  it  which  could  do  you  any  harm.     I 


AND    THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  119 


address  the  enclosed  letter  for  the  "  Chapeau  rouge  "  to  you. 
As  to  trickery,  there  is  none ;  as  to  soft  words,  I  will  not 
answer. 

"We  had  three  days  ago  three  shocks  of  an  earthquake,  four 
miles  from  here.  They  say  the  first  shock  was  severe,  and 
that  subterranean  noises  were  heard.  No  harm  has  been 
done.  There  is  no  example  of  such  a  phenomenon  in  this 
country.  I  leave  it  to  you  to  find  out  the  reason  of  it. 
Many  compliments  to  Madame  Denis.  Be  persuaded  of  all 
my  esteem. 

WlLHELMINE. 

The  next  letter,  written  on  June  2nd,  1758,  shows  Wilhel- 
mine's  wonderful  intelligence,  and  the  power  she  possessed 
of  not  only  grasping  ideas,  but  also  of  judging  facts  in  their 
real  importance.  The  position  of  Europe  seemed  to  be  clearly 
defined  before  her.  She  had  no  other  end  in  view  but  the 
peace,  happiness  and  welfare  of  the  world  in  general. 
Everything  she  says  on  the  subject  is  simple,  true,  and  to 
the  point,  yet  in  perfect  harmony  with  her  warm-hearted 
disposition.  The  two  great  victories  gained  by  her  brother 
helped  to  cheer  her  up,  but  her  anxiety  for  him  remained 
unabated.  She  sees  him  threatened  with  the  fate  of  Orpheus, 
to  be  torn  in  pieces,  but  not  like  the  poet,  through  ardent  love, 
but  through  the  revengeful  hatred  of  three  women,  Madame 
de  Pompadour,  the  weak-minded  Elizabeth  of  Russia,  and  the 
embittered  Maria  Theresa,  whilst  the  English,  "  un  peuple 
avare,"  were  watching  the  course  of  events.  She  longed  for 
peace  to  put  an  end  to  her  country's  woes. 

2nd  January,  1758. 

For  thank  heaven,  we  have  finished  the  most 
disastrous  of  years.  You  say  so  many  kind  things  to  me  for 
the  present  one,  that  they  form  one  reason  the  more  for  my 
gratitude.     I   wish    you    everything    that    can   make   you 


120  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 

perfectly  happy.  As  regards  myself,  I  leave  my  fate  to 
destiny.  We  often  form  desires  which  would  be  very  preju- 
dicial if  realized,  therefore  I  make  none.  If  anything  in 
the  world  could  satisfy  my  wishes,  it  would  be  peace ;  I 
think  as  you  do  about  war,  and  we  have  quite  a  third  who 
certainly  share  our  views.  But  can  we  always  act  up 
to  what  we  think  best  ?  Must  we  not  submit  to  many 
laws  established  since  the  world  began  ?  Man  runs 
after  the  glitter  of  reputation,  everyone  seeks  to  find 
it  in  his  calling  and  in  his  talents  ;  we  desire  to 
immortalize  ourselves.  Ought  we  not  to  seek  for  this 
chimeric  glory  in  the  true  or  the  false  ideas  man  sets  up  for 
himself  ?  Democritus  had  good  reason  to  laugh  at  human 
folly.  I  see,  on  the  one  hand,  a  hypocrite  taking  part  in 
processions  and  supplicating  saints,  occupied  in  setting  all 
Europe  by  the  ears,  and  depriving  it  of  its  inhabitants. 
I  see,  on  the  other  hand,  a  philosopher  causing  (although 
with  regret)  oceans  of  human  blood  to  flow.  I  see  an 
avaricious  people  combined  to  ruin  others  for  the  sake  of 
their  riches.  But  enough  !  I  could  see  too  much,  and  that 
is  needless.  You  must  content  yourself  this  time  with  what 
I  say  and  with  my  reflections,  for  I  have  no  news  since  the 
last  letter  you  received  from  me.  What  you  propose  to  me  is 
a  little  dangerous.  I  explain  myself  upon  this  subject  in  the 
letter  which  I  send  you.  I  come  back  to  my  old  saying, 
people  are  deaf  in  your  country.  If  I  could  speak  to  you, 
you  would  possibly  judge  differently  to  what  you  do.  The 
King  is  in  the  position  of  Orpheus,  if  his  good  fortune  does 
not  extricate  him.  He  wishes  for  peace,  but  there  are  many 
buts.  If  peace  is  not  made  before  the  spring,  all  Germany 
will  be  ruined  and  desolated.  The  state  in  which  it  already 
is,  is  terrible.  However  wise  the  measures  adopted,  violence 
and  pillage  cannot  be  guarded  against.  I  should  never 
finish  if  I  gave  you  a  detailed  account  of  the  misfortunes 
which  overwhelm  us.     It  is  a  shame,  that  in  this  civilized 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  121 

century,  people  should  behave  with  such  cruelty.  The  King 
does  not  suffer  from  it.  In  spite  of  all  that  is  said,  the 
Saxon  people  love  him,  but  the  aristocracy  hate  him,  because 
they  are  deprived  of  the  pensions  and  salaries  they  draw. 
Atrocious  calumnies  are  circulated  about  him.  Can  they  be 
believed?  They  emanate  from  his  enemies.  Envy  has 
persecuted  all  great  men,  animosity  must  be  added  to  it. 
Would  that  we  were  deaf,  when  she  shoots  forth  her  poisoned 

arrows  !     Once  more  I  must  end,  I  perceive  that 

I  am  saying  too  much.  Be  persuaded  of  all  my  esteem,  and 
that  I  shall  always  be,  all  my  life,  the  true  friend  of  the  Swiss 
Brother. 

WlLHELMINE. 

The  "  Pandours,"  or  rather  hussars,  commanded  by  the 
Austrian  colonel,  the  Prince  of  Coburg,  were  marching  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Baireuth,  and  had  seized  letters  from 
the  Margravine  and  Voltaire  to  the  King.  An  occurrence 
which  proved  the  necessity  of  caution  caused  Wilhelmine  to 
write  the  following  gracefully  expressed  letter.  Measures 
had  been  taken  that  the  peace  negotiations  should  not 
again  be  interrupted  by  Austrian  hussars.  To  write  about 
peace,  and  to  speak  with  the  Cardinal  Tencin  of  other 
important  matters,  would  have  been  most  dangerous,  as  the 
Prince  of  Coburg  would  certainly  read  the  intercepted 
letters.  Who  would,  however,  have  discovered  that  the  plan 
for  an  Italian  comedy  was  the  cloak  used  to  disguise  the 
negotiations  for  peace,  and  that  the  "scour  Mezetin  "  was  the 
Margravine  of  Baireuth  ?  It  is  certain,  however,  that  in  this 
manner  the  correspondence  was  enabled  to  be  carried  on 
without  the  risk  of  a  third  person  understanding  what  the 
letters  really  meant. 

Letter  erom  the  Paudotjrs  to  Brother  Voltaire,  1757. 

Why  do  you  call  us  villains  ?    We  pillage,  we 
sack  and  we  are  privileged  thieves,  that  is  true.     For  being 


122  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

such,  are  we  more  guilty  than  those  who  govern  the  world, 
those  authors  who  steal  others'  thoughts,  and  the  saints 
of  paradise  who,  in  order  to  build  churches,  appropriate 
to  themselves  the  goods  of  the  nation  and  of  private  people  ? 
Surely  not.  Do  us  therefore  more  justice,  and  wish, 
instead  of  abusing  us,  that  the  Sovereigus  of  Europe  may  for 
the  future  follow  our  example,  that  they  may  become  as 
eager  to  possess  your  letters  as  we  are,  that  they  may  learn 
from  their  perusal  to  become  philosophers,  and  Pandours  of 
virtue.  If  we  ever  have  the  happiness  of  catching  you,  we 
shall  endeavour  to  pillage  your  mind  and  your  knowledge, 
out  of  revenge  for  your  contempt.  Our  Rosinantes  will 
then  be  metamorphosed  into  a  Pegasus,  and  we  shall  know 
with  the  help  of  a  certain  lady,  who  calls  herself  Reason,  how 
to  prevent  your  making  "  neuvaines  "  against  us. 

P.S.  I  have  received  all  your  letters,  and  answer  them 
all  at  once.  Your  plan  for  the  Italian  comedy  is  not  quite 
accurate.  But  it  would  ill  befit  me  to  criticize  your  works. 
The  sister  "  Mezetin "  dares  not  meddle  with  what  does 
not  concern  her,  besides  which,  it  is  very  dangerous  to  under- 
take to  act  a  comedy,  as  one  runs  the  risk  of  being  carried 
off  by  Pandours,  or  that  the  part  should  be  intercepted.  It  is 
more  than  four  weeks  that  I  have  no  news  of  the  King.  It 
may  be  that  he  has  written  to  me,  which  I  certainly  think  he 
has,  but  I  fancy  the  letters  have  taken  a  route  which  does 
not  lead  here. 

It  is  said  the  French  have  had  a  slight  repulse  at  Bremen, 
and  that  seven  thousand  men  were  beaten.  The  Swedes  are 
at  their  worst  in  Pomerania.  Their  cavalry  had  retired  to 
the  Island  of  Riigen.  Their  infantry  is  blockaded  at 
Stralsund,  where  they  are  going  to  be  bombarded.  This  is 
all  I  know.  My  brother  of  Prussia  has  sent  me  this  letter 
for  you.  You  can  see  from  the  date  how  regularly  letters 
reach  here.  I  pity  your  blindness,  only  to  believe  in  one 
God,  and  to  deny  J !     How  will  you  have  your  cause 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BA1REUTH.  123 

pleaded  ?  If  anything  could  still  divert  me,  it  would  be  to 
see  your  apology.  Good  bye.  Please  let  me  have  news  of 
you,  and  above  all  of  my  lover,  Heaven  grant  that  it  may 
be  good. 

WlLHELMINE. 

I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  it  is  I  who  am  the  Pandour.  I 
made  a  mistake,  and  sent  the  King  a  piece  of  blank  paper 
instead  of  your  letter,  which  I  have  found  again.  I  have 
sent  it  off.  If  it  arrives  safely,  you  will  soon  have  an 
answer. 

The  news,  alas,  was  anything  but  good.  The  Cardinal  wrote 
a  letter  to  Louis  XV,  enclosing  one  from  the  Margravine. 
The  answer  which  he,  however,  received,  nearly  caused  the 
Cardinal  to  become  as  red  as  his  hat  from  anger  and 
vexation.  Louis  XY,  in  a  most  curt  answer,  informed  him 
that  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  would  send 
his  Eminence  a  reply  to  his  communication.  Thus  the  great 
Cardinal  received  the  answer  he  was  to  send  the  Margravine 
from  the  little  Abbe  de  Bernis.  It  contained  a  refusal  of  the 
proposals  for  peace.  Cardinal  Tencin  died  a  fortnight  after 
this  occurrence,  and  Voltaire  declares  his  death  was  caused 
by  disappointment  at  this  letter.  Madame  de  Pompadour's 
hatred  of  Frederic  the  Great,  and  the  nattering  terms  in 
which  Maria  Theresa  addressed  her,  proved  more  powerful 
than  the  voice  of  reason  and  consideration  for  France's  real 
interests. 

If  Voltaire  really  intended  (as  he  says  in  his  Memoirs  he 
did)  merely  to  take  part  in  these  negotiations,  in  the  hopes  of 
seeing  Cardinal  Tencin  meet  with  failure,  he  must  have  de- 
ceived himself.  He  never  could  have  said  so  had  the  Cardinal 
succeeded,  and  peace  been  made.  Voltaire  certainly  makes 
many  satirical  allusions  to  Tencin  in  his  correspondence  with 
Tronchin,  more  particularly  with  respect  to  an  answer  which 
the  Cardinal  gave  the  Pope  in  the  year  1741.     The  latter 


124 


CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


had  expressed  his  fear  that  the  alliance  of  France  with 
Prussia,  during  the  Bavarian  war  of  succession,  would  render 
"Le  Marquis  de  Brandebourg "  too  powerful!  To  this 
Tencin  is  said  to  have  replied,  "  Your  Holiness  need  have 
no  apprehensions.  France  will  be  able  to  humble  this  heretic 
as  easily  as  she  has  raised  him  up."  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  Voltaire  ardently  desired  the  success  of  the  undertaking, 
as  he  had  hoped,  were  the  result  favourable,  that  it  would 
have  brought  about  a  reconciliation  between  him  and  the 
King.  These  hopes  he  expressed  in  the  following  letter,  in 
which  he  speaks  of  the  peace  negotiations,  and  then  of  the 
victories  obtained  by  the  King,  first  at  Eossbach  over  the 
French,  then  at  Leuthen  over  the  Austrians,  and  finally  at 
Zorndorf  over  the  Russians. 

Sire, 

I  have  received  the  gracious  letter  you  have 
written  to  me,  "  the  Swiss,"  concerning  the  general  peace,  made 
or  ready  to  be  made  through  the  mediation  of  his  Excellency 
de  Spada.  I  was  greatly  pleased  that  they  should  commence 
by  hanging  several  ministers,  but  I  should  like  to  know  if 
they  will  die  in  fours  or  in  sixes.  I  am  amazed,  Sire,  at  his 
Majesty  the  King,  who  goes  about  so,  who  beats  three  great 
nations  one  after  the  other.  I  have  written  to  a  learned 
Benedictin,  my  cousin,  that  he  should  be  pleased  to  search 
among  all  his  books  if  any  mention  be  made  of  another  man 
like  his  Majesty  the  King,  and  I  await  his  reply.  I  thought 
I  had  approached  (that  is  now  five  years  ago)  this  great  man, 
but  it  was  not  he.  You  know  that  the  one  I  saw  had  a 
gentle  face  and  large  blue  eyes,  and  he  had  a  most  agreeable 
nature,  very  agreeable,  my  good  Sire,  and  that  he  was  very 
witty,  and  he  composed  the  prettiest  stanzas  in  the  world,  as 
much  in  prose  as  in  verse,  and  that  he  was  very  philosophical. 
Oh !  it  is  he,  whom  I  shall  always  regret,  for  I  also  am  a 
philosopher,  I  am,  but  only  at  intervals.     I  am  very  fond  of 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  125 

a  great  King,  who  is  all  over  a  man.  I  think,  God  forgive 
me,  my  good  Sire,  that  I  will  come  and  see  him  when  he  has 
leisure,  for  I  have  a  great  curiosity  for  rarities.  But  I  am 
so  old,  so  old,  my  good  Sire,  and  he  so  very  great,  that  I 
shall  never  have  strength  to  go. 

We  say  prayers  every  day  in  our  holy  Church  for  his  holy 
preservation.     All  our  Brothers  give  you  the  kiss  of  peace. 

At  the  time  the  following  note  from  Voltaire  reached 
Baireuth,  Wilhelmine  was  lying  dangerously  ill,  and  her 
days  seemed  numbered.  Yet  her  spirit  and  her  mind 
remained  as  strong  as  of  old,  and  all  her  thoughts  seemed 
concentrated  on  the  one  beloved  object,  her  brother.  To  her, 
her  life  had  been  one  long  pilgrimage  of  suffering.  The  last 
anxious  weeks  between  the  battles  of  Kolin  and  Eossbach 
had  broken  her  heart,  it  was  only  with  difficulty  that  she 
struggled  on  till  at  last  her  body  succumbed.  In  July,  1758, 
her  weakness  had  so  increased  that  the  letter  she  wrote  to 
the  King,  congratulating  him  on  his  victory  at  Zorndorf ,  was 
scarcely  legible.  Voltaire  had  been  kept  informed  of  her 
dangerous  condition,  which  doubtless  caused  him  to  betray 
his  great  anxiety  in  his  letter  to  her. 

At  the  Delices, 

27th  September,  1758. 
Madame, 

If  this  note  should  find  your  Eoyal  Highness 
at  leisure  and  in  health,  I  would  implore  you  to  have  this 
answer  of  "  the  Swiss  "  sent  to  the  great  man  your  brother. 
But  my  urgent  care  is  to  beg  you  to  send  a  detailed  account 
of  your  illness  to  Tronchin. 

You  have  never  had,  Madame,  so  many  reasons  to  love 
life.  You  do  not  know  how  precious  that  life  is  to  all  those 
who  have  had  the  happiness  of  approaching  your  Eoyal 
Highness.     Be  sure  that  if  there  is  anyone  on  this  earth 


126        CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 


capable  of  giving  you  relief  and  of  prolonging  your  precious 
existence,  it  is  Tronchin.  In  the  name  of  all  thinking  beings, 
do  not  neglect  to  consult  him,  Madame ;  and  if  it  were 
necessary  that  he  should  come  to  see  you,  or  if,  were  he 
unable  to  do  so,  he  thought  you  might  undertake  the  journey, 
there  would  not  be  a  moment  to  lose ;  you  must  live,  all  else 
is  nothing,  I  am  filled  with  grief  and  anxiety,  and  these 
feelings  outweigh  the  profound  respect  and  tender  devotion 
of  the  old  Swiss  hermit. 

Voltaire. 
I  hope  the  Margrave  shares  my  opinion  ? 

This  last  letter  was  written  like  that  to  the  Marquis  d'Ad- 
hemar,  on  a  sheet  of  paper  of  small  octavo  size.  Both  letters 
were  found  together  as  they  had  arrived  at  the  Castle  of 
Baireuth  a  hundred  and  six  years  ago,  only  a  few  days  before 
the  death  of  the  Margravine. 

Wilhelmine,  who  had  ever  been  so  ready  with  her  pen,  was 
no  longer  able  to  use  it,  not  even  to  bid  a  last  farewell  to  her 
friend.  Yet,  in  token  of  how  much  her  thoughts  were  with 
him,  she  sent  him  her  picture  a  fortnight  before  her  end,  as  a 
last  message  of  friendship  and  gratitude.  Soon  her  spirit 
would  fathom  the  great  mysteries  which  had  occupied  her 
during  her  life.  Who  is  there  who  would  not  believe  in 
affection's  double-sight  ?  In  the  same  night,  at  the  same 
hour  in  which  her  brother  suffered  a  crushing  defeat  at  the 
hands  of  the  Austrians  at  Hochkirch,  Wilhelmine  breathed 
her  last,  14th  October,  1758.  Her  last  words,  her  last 
thoughts,  were  for  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  the  King. 
She  desired  to  have  her  brother's  letters  buried  with  her. 
This  wish  was,  however,  not  fulfilled.  At  her  especial 
request  the  funeral  oration  to  be  held  at  her  grave  was  to 
contain  but  little  mention  of  herself,  the  vanity  of  all  human 
things  being  made  the  chief  subject  of  it.  She  was  buried, 
according  to  her  instructions,  in  the  simplest  and  quietest 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  127 

manner  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Castle  of  Baireuth,  a  striking 
contrast  to  that  love  of  pomp  and  outward  show  with  which 
she  had  always  been  credited. 

The  impression  which  the  news  of  the  Margravine's  death 
produced  on  Frederic  the  Great  is  best  shown  by  the  account 
given  by  his  reader,  De  Catt,  in  his  journal  kept  at  that 
time.  It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  give  some  extracts  from 
it  here. 

"  The  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  Chamberlain  to  the  Margra- 
'  vine,"  writes  De  Catt,  "  announced  that  this  Princess  was 
'  very  ill,  and  that  her  weakness  gave  cause  for  the  gravest 
'  apprehensions.  I  gave  the  King  the  letter.  '  Ah !  my 
'  dear  friend,  it  is  a  letter  to  prepare  me  for  the  worst.  I  am 
'  sure  that  dear  sister  is  no  more.  I  received  the  fatal  letter  on 
'  my  return  from  a  visit  to  the  camp,  and  to  make  my  sorrow 
'  greater,  had  to  compose  my  countenance,  in  order  that  my 
'  guests  should  not  perceive  the  sorrow  which  overwhelmed 
'  me.  Nearly  all  my  people  take  fright  if  they  imagine 
'  they  see  a  cloud  on  my  face  ;  they  at  once  believe  that  the 
'  affairs  of  the  State  are  desperate.'  The  King  then  recited 
'  the  following  verses  from  Iphigenia  to  me  : 

"  '  Juste  ciel  c'est  ainsi  qu'assurant  ta  vengeance 
"  Tu  romps  tons  ressorts  de  ma  vaine  prudence, 
"  Encore,  si  je  pouvais,  libre  dans  mon  malheur 
u  Par  des  larmes  au  moins  soulager  ma  douleur. 

"  Triste  destin  des  rois !  esclaves  que  nous  sommes 
"  Et  des  rigueurs  du  sort  et  des  discours  des  hommes, 
"  Nous  nous  voyons  sans  cesse  assieg6s  de  temoins — 
"  Et  les  plus  malheureux  osent  pleurer  le  moins.' 

"  He  then  again  said,  after  having  been  silent  for  a  few 
"  moments,  '  Surely  this  dear  Sister  is  no  more !  What  do 
"  you  think,  dear  friend  ?  Does  she  still  live  ? '  He  cried 
"  bitterly !  '  Speak  to  me  friend  ;  don't  flatter  me,  she  is 
"  surely  dead  ! ' 


128  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 

"  Sir,  I  replied ;  this  great  misfortune  may  have  taken 
place,  and  I  fear  as  they  have  written  to  your  Majesty, 
you  must  call  all  your  philosophy,  and  all  your  firmness  of 
mind,  which  places  you  so  far  above  other  mortals,  to  your 
aid.  It  requires  more  than  fortitude  to  bear  such  losses. 
The  King  replied,  '  I  have  enough  courage  to  repair  all  the 
disasters  of  the  14th.  Call  my  brother  to  me,  and  you  will 
see  whether  Dawn  will  gain  any  advantage  from  the  blow 
he  has  dealt  us !  But  how  can  I  make  up  for  the  loss 
which  everything  warns  me  of;  how  can  I  replace  this 
beloved  and  adorable  sister,  who  has  loved  me  so  dearly  ? 
How  could  I  believe  that  she  to  whom,  since  my  earliest 
youth,  I  have  confided  my  every  thought,  should  so  soon 
be  taken  from  me  ?  Must  every  misfortune  overwhelm 
me  ?  I  pity  you,  my  friend,  that  you  should  be  a  continual 
witness  of  events  which,  succeeding  each  other  rapidly, 
torment  every  moment  of  my  life.  What  a  sad  existence  I 
oblige  you  to  endure.'  The  King  then  sent  me  away, 
begging  me,  however,  not  to  go  far  away  from  head- 
quarters, as  he  might  send  for  me  at  any  moment 

"17th  October,  1758. 

"  Having  had  much  trouble  in  getting  to  sleep, 
"  I  at  last  slept  soundly,  till  I  was  roused  at  2  o'clock  in  the 
"  morning  by  one  of  the  King's  footmen,  begging  me  to 
"  come  to  him  as  soon  as  ever  I  was  dressed.  I  at  once  knew 
"  what  was  the  reason  of  this  summons,  and  the  servant 
"  confirmed  my  suspicions. 

"  I  found  the  King  sobbing  bitterly,  and  was  for  some 
"  moments  in  his  presence  before  he  was  able  to  speak  to 
"me. 

"  At  last  he  cried,  '  my  sister  is  lost  to  me  for  ever ! 
"  Dear  friend,  I  shall  never  see  her  again  !  It  is  the  most 
"  terrible  blow  which  could  have  fallen  upon  me.     I  have 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  129 


"  now  lost  mother,  brother  and  sister,  all  that  is  most  dear 
"  to  me.     These  losses  have  fallen  one  on  the  other.'* 

"  This  is  the  account  of  the  first  moments  after  the  defeat 
"  and  the  sad  news  of  the  Margravine's  death.  I  have 
"  written  it  down  faithfully  for  myself,  as  I  was  anxious  to 
"  have  a  clear  idea  of  the  workings  of  the  heart  and  mind  of 
"  this  extraordinary  Prince." 

Our  task  is  now  at  an  end,  for  with  the  death  of  the  Mar- 
gravine the  correspondence  closes.  If  these  pages  should 
have  been  able  to  show  the  better  and  nobler  side  of  Voltaire's 
character,  and  by  so  doing,  soften  the  severe  criticism  it 
generally  meets  with,  then  our  object  has  been  attained. 

BothWilhelmine  and  the  poet  possessed  the  sensitive  excit- 
ability and  the  changeable  character  of  their  century,  and  it 
was  for  this  reason  that  they  shared  the  same  fate  in  the 
judgment  of  posterity,  of  being  held  answerable  chiefly  for 
their  shortcomings,  without  taking  the  times  they  lived  in, 
and  the  difficulties  with  which  they  were  surrounded  into 
consideration. 


*  After  the  battle  of  Kolin,  the  King  heard  of  his  mother's  death  ; 
whilst  raising  the  siege  of  Olmutz,  of  that  of  his  brother,  the  Prince  of 
Prussia,  and,  lastly,  of  the  Margravine's  end  two  days  after  the  surprise  at 
Hochkirch. 

K 


APPENDIX. 


K   2 


APPENDIX. 

I. 

LETTEES    OF    THE    MAEGEAVINE    OF 
BAIEEUTH    TO    VOLTAIEE. 


A  Bruxelles,  le  26  Septembre,  1742. 

O  vous  qui  de  Minerve  avez  suivi  les  traces, 

Par  quel  effroyable  revers 
Aurais-je  done  perdu  plus  de  soixante  vers 

En  l'honneur  de  vos  bonnes  graces  ? 
C'est  ainsi  quelquefois  qu'un  malheureux  mortel, 
L'esprit  en  oraison  et  les  mains  etendues, 
Marmotte  un  f roid  cantique  au  pied  du  maitre-autel ; 
Un  diable  vient  boucher  tous  les  chemins  du  ciel, 

Et  les  prieres  sont  perdues. 

Votre  Altesse  Eoyale  saura  que  voila  ma  destinee  aupres 
d'elle.  Je  recus,  il  y  a  environ  un  an,  un  petit  paquet  fort 
joli  de  sa  part  avec  une  lettre  du  philosophe  M.  de  Superville. 
Je  partais  pour  Paris,  precisement  dans  le  moment  que  je 
recus  ee  temoignage  de  ses  bontes ;  je  prends  a  temoin 
Apollon,  les  neuf  Muses  et  la  grande  divinite  de  la  recon- 
naissance, que  je  fis  sur  la  route  un  nombre  tres  considerable  de 
mauvais  vers,  lesquels  je  joignis,  en  arrivant  a  Paris,  a  quatre 
pages  de  prose ;  je  portai  l'enorme  paquet  moi-meme  a  la 
grande  poste  de  Paris,  et  je  le  recommandai  avec  tant 
d'empressement,  qu'on  crut  apparemment  qu'il  contenait  de 
grands  mysteres.  Les  curieux  furent  confondus  sans  doute, 
mais,  Madame,  c'est  moi  qui  le  suis  par  ce  qui  me  revient 
aujourd'hui.     J'apprends  que  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale  n'a  recu 


134        CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

ni  prose  ni  vers,  et  qu'elle  me  croit  avec  raison  un  barbare, 
paresseux,  sans  aucune  connaissance  de  ses  premiers  devoirs. 

Eendez-moi  justice,  Madame,  songez  combien  il  est  impos- 
sible d'oublier  vos  bontes,  et  croyez  que  non-seulement  j'eus 
l'honneur  d'ecrire  a  Yotre  Altesse  Royale,  mais  que  je  serais 
venu  la  remereier  dans  ses  Etats  si  ma  destinee  m'avait  permis 
de  faire  cet  agreable  voyage.  Non,  Madame,  je  n'oublierai 
jamais  la  princesse  philosophe,  la  protectrice  des  arts,  la 
musicienne  parfaite,  le  modele  de  la  politesse  et  de  l'affabilite. 
Le  Roi,  votre  tres-auguste  et  tres-amusant  frere,  m'ordonna,  il 
n'y  a  pas  longtemps,  de  lui  faire  ma  cour  a  Aix-la-Chapelle ; 
je  le  vis,  Madame,  se  portant  comme  un  heros,  se  moquant 
des  medecins  et  se  baignant  pour  son  plaisir ;  je  ne  trouvai 
rien  de  change  en  lui  que  son  visage,  que  j'avais  vu,  il  y  a 
deux  ans,  un  peu  effile  par  la  fievre  quarte,  et  qui  est  devenu 
d'une  rondeur  qui  sied  tres-bien  avec  une  couronne  de 
lauriers ;  deux  victoires  de  plus  ne  l'ont  rendu  ni  moins 
humain,  ni  moins  affable.  Je  ne  cesserai,  Madame,  de 
regretter  les  jours  ou  j'ai  eu  l'honneur  de  faire  ma  cour  a 
Votre  Altesse  Royale  et  a  Sa  Majeste,  dans  la  retraite  de 
Rheinsberg ;  les  bontes  dont  m'honora  Monseigneur  le  Mar- 
grave me  seront  toujours  presentes,  et  tout  ce  que  je  souhaite, 
c'est  de  pouvoir  encore  jouir  au  moins  une  fois  en  ma  vie  du 
meme  honneur. 

Je  suis,  avec  le  plus  profond  respect,  Madame,  de  Yotre 
Altesse  Royale,  le  tres-humble  et  tres-obeissant  serviteur. 

Voltaire. 


Madame, 

Que  Votre  Altesse  Royale  renonce  a  Madame 
de  Grraffigny  ;  elle  est  vieille,  elle  est  malade.  Mais  vous  etes 
malade  et  vieux,  me  dira  Votre  Altesse  Royale ;  oui,  Madame, 
mais  j'ai  les  passions  jeunes,  et  le  Roi  votre  frere  me  rajeunit. 
En  un  mot,  Madame  de  Graffigny  ne  veut  point  quitter  Paris,  et 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  135 

moi  je  ne  veux  point  quitter  Frederic  le  Grand.  Chacun  dans 
ce  monde  est  gouverne  par  son  gout.  Je  vous  deterrerai  quelque 
complaisante,  ni  jeune  ni  vieille,  point  tracassiere,  femme 
d'esprit,  femme  honnete,  femme  de  condition,  et  vous  aurez 
cela  pour  vos  etrennes,  aussi  bien  qu'un  certain  petit  fou 
nomme  Heurtand  que  M.  de  Montperni  a  retenu.  II  fait 
pleurer  dans  la  tragedie  et  pouffer  de  rire  dans  le  comique. 
Point  de  "  Rome  Sauvee "  aujourd'hui,  il  faut  que  vous 
jouissiez  du  Eoi  tout  a  votre  aise.  Ciceron  a  d'ailleurs  ses 
coliques  infernales  qui  l'enipechent  de  vous  faire  sa  cour  et  de 
briller  en  brodequins  aujourd'hui. 

Je  me  mets  aux  pieds  de  Votre  Altesse  Royale. 

Voltaire. 

A  Potsdam,  ce  9  Decembre,  1750. 

Madame, 

Les  grandes  passions  menent  bien  loin  et 
j'aurais  eu  l'honneur  de  suivre  a  Baireuth  la  digne  sceur 
d'un  heros,  si  l'avantage  de  vivre  aupres  de  ce  heros  ne 
m'avait  retenu  encore  a  ses  pieds.  Votre  Altesse  Royale  sait 
que  je  devais  partir  pour  la  France  le  15  Decembre,  mais 
peut-on  avoir  d'autre  patrie  que  celle  de  Frederic  le  Grand  ? 
On  n'y  a  qu'un  seul  chagrin,  c'est  de  n'y  plus  voir  Votre 
Altesse  Roy  ale.  On  est  console  au  moins  par  les  nouvelles 
qu'on  a  de  votre  sante.  On  dit  qu'elle  se  raffermit  et  que 
vous  avez  tres-bien  soutenu  les  fatigues  du  voyage.  Si  Votre 
Altesse  Royale  peut  parvenir  a  avoir  un  corps  digne  de  son 
ame  et  une  sante  egale  a  sa  beaute,  qu'aurez-vous  a  desirer 
dans  le  monde  ?  Peut-etre,  Madame,  sentez-vous  le  besoin 
de  faire  de  nouveaux  heureux,  en  approchant  encore  de  votre 
personne  quelques  gens  de  bonne  compagnie,  dignes  de  vous 
voir  et  de  vous  entendre. 

Ne  pouvant  aller  si  tot  a  Paris,  j'ai  charge  ma  niece  de 
chercher  une  dame  de  condition,  veuve,  qui  ait  de  l'esprit, 


136  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


des  lettres  et  de  la  conversation.  Peut-etre  que  l'envie  d'obeir 
a  vos  ordres  lui  fera  trouver  ce  qu'il  faut  a  Yotre  Altesse 
Eoyale.  Du  moins  je  vous  reponds,  Madame,  qu'elle  y  fera 
tons  ses  efforts  et  que  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale  pourra  accepter 
de  sa  main  la  personne  qu'elle  presentera.  Je  persiste  a 
penser  que  le  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  deja  connu  a  votre  cour, 
serait  un  homme  bien  convenable.  Je  reponds  hardiment  de 
sa  sagesse,  de  son  esprit  et  de  sa  valeur.  Je  ne  crois  pas  que 
Monseigneur  le  Margrave  puisse  jamais  faire  un  meilleur 
choix  ;  j'attendrai  sur  cela  vos  ordres.  Je  suis  plus  sur  de  la 
bonne  acquisition  que  ferait  votre  cour,  que  je  ne  le  suis  des 
dispositions  presentes  du  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  mais  ayant  eu 
le  bonheur  d'approcher  de  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale,  peut-on 
douter  qu'il  ne  veuille  se  fixer  a  son  service  ?  Prive,  comme 
je  le  suis,  du  bonheur  de  passer  ma  vie  a  vos  pieds,  et  a  ceux 
de  Monseigneur  le  Margrave,  je  serais  heureux  d'y  savoir 
mon  ami. 

Vous  savez  sans  doute,  Madame,  que  le  Eoi  a  ordonne  a 
d'Arnaud  de  partir  dans  les  vingt-quatre  heures;  il  est  a 
Dresde,  ou  il  se  vante  des  bonnes  fortunes  de  la  cour  de 
Berlin. 

Je  suis  avec  le  plus  profond  respect,  de  Votre  Altesse 
Eoyale, 

Le  tres-humble  et  tres-soumis  serviteur, 

Voltaire. 

le  10  Becembre. 

Je  vous  ai  promis,  Monsieur,  de  vous  ecrire,  et  je  vous  tiens 
parole.  J'espere  que  notre  correspondance  ne  sera  pas 
aussi  maigre  que  nos  deux  individus,  et  que  vous  me 
donnerez  sou  vent  sujet  de  vous  repondre.  Je  ne  vous 
parlerai  point  de  mes  regrets ;  ce  serait  les  renouveler.  Je 
suis  sans  cesse  transported  dans  votre  abbaye,  et  vous  jugez 
bien  que  celui  qui  en  est  abbe  m'occupe  tou jours.     Je  me 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OE    BA1REUTH.  137 

suis  acquittee  de  vos  commissions  aupres  du  Margrave. 
II  me  charge  de  vous  assurer  de  son  amitie  et  vous  prie 
de  mettre  a  fin  l'affaire  du  Marquis  d'Adhemar.  II  sera 
charme  de  le  prendre  a.  son  service  comme  chambellan, 
et  lui  fera  des  conditions  dont  il  pourra  etre  content. 
Quoique  votre  recommandation  suffise  aupres  du  Margrave, 
il  serait  pourtant  necessaire  pour  l'agrement  du  Marquis, 
d'en  avoir  une  ou  de  Mon.  de  Puisieulx  ou  de  M.  d'Argenson 
qu'il  put  produire  a  la  cour.  Je  vous  serai  bien  obligee  si 
vous  pouvez  le  determiner  a  venir  bientot  ici,  ou  nous  avons 
grand  besoin  de  secours  pour  remplir  les  vides  de  la  conversa- 
tion. Nos  entretiens  me  semblent  comme  la  musique  chinoise, 
ou  il  y  a  de  longues  pauses  qui  finissent  par  des  tons  discor- 
dants.  Je  crains  que  ma  lettre  ne  s'en  ressente  ;  tant  mieux 
pour  vous,  Monsieur ;  il  faut  des  moments  d'ennui  dans 
la  vie  pour  faire  valoir  d'autant  plus  ceux  qui  font  plaisir. 
Apres  la  lecture  de  cette  lettre,  les  petits  soupers  vous 
paraitront  bien  plus  agreables.  Pensez-y  quelquefois 
a  moij  je  vous  en  prie,  et  soyez  persuade  de  ma  parfaite 
estime. 

WlLHELMINE. 

Decembre,  1750. 
Madame, 

Vofre  Altesse  Royale  a  grandement  raison  ;  il 
faut  avoir  du  bon  temps.  Les  princes  et  les  moines  n'ont 
que  leur  vie  en  ce  monde.  Ce  ne  sont  pas  des  regiments  qui 
rendent  heureux,  c'est  de  passer  doucement  les  vingt-quatre 
heures  du  jour,  et  cela  est  plus  difficile  qu'on  ne  pense.  Le 
grand  Turc  s'ennuie  a  Constantinople  ;  c'est  pourtant  une 
belle  ville.  La  situation  de  Baireuth  n'est  pas  si  riante,  mais 
l'esprit  et  les  graces  embellissent  tout.  Eh  bien,  Madame, 
puisqu'il  faut  dire  les  gros  mots,  que  ferez-vous  avec  votre 
esprit  et  vos  graces  si  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale  n'a  pas  une 
demi-douzaine  de  gens  de  merite  pour  sentir  le  votre  ?     C'est 


138  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

une  idee  bien  raisonnable  de  mettre  quelques  voix  de  plus 
dans  votre  concert.  J'ai  ecrit  encore  deux  fois  au  Marquis 
d' Adhemar ;.  point  de  reponse  encore ;  il  faut  qu'il  soit 
enchante  chez  quelque  Armide.  J'ecris  une  lettre  fulminante 
a  ma  niece ;  il  faut  qu'elle  use  de  son  autorite  et  qu'elle 
desenchante  Adhemar  pour  l'envoyer  plus  enchante  a  vos 
pieds.  Mais,  Madame,  il  faudrait  deux  Adhemar,  deux 
Grraffigny,  des  recrues  de  plaisir. 

Je  jure  par  mon  sincere  attachement  a  'Vos  Altesses 
Royales  que  si  j'avais  pu  aller  a  Paris,  je  vous  aurais  amene 
des  recrues,  non  pas  des  blancs-becs,  non  pas  de  sots  faiseurs 
de  vers  ampoules,  mais  des  gens  dignes  de  vous  faire  leur 
cour.  Ah  !  Madame,  il  me  passe  quelquefois  des  romans  par 
la  tete.  Je  me  dis :  Si  pendant  les  mois  de  Novembre, 
de  Decembre  et  de  Janvier,  ou  le  Roi  a  assez  de  monde, 
on  pouvait  aller  rendre  ses  respects  a  sa  divine  sceur !  Si 
pendant  que  j'y  viendrais  de  l'Orient,  ma  niece  y  venait 
de  l'Occident !  Et  puis  des  operas,  des  tragedies  nouvelles ; 
cela  ne  vaudrait-il  pas  mieux  que  d'aller  en  Italie  ?  Madame, 
je  vous  prefererais  a  Saint -Pierre  de  Rome,  a  la  ville  souter- 
raine,  au  pape.  Cela  est-il  impossible  ?  Je  n'en  sais  rien. 
Je  vis  au  jour  la  journee,  je  travaille  au  "  Siecle  de  Louis 
XIV."  soir  et  matin,  je  fais  im  grand  tableau  de  la  revolution 
de  l'esprit  humain  dans  ce  siecle  ou  l'on  a  commence  a  penser 
depuis  les  Alpes  jusqu'aux  Krapaths.  Cela  pourra  amuser  le 
loisir  de  Yotre  Altesse  Royale.  Mais  je  veux  chasser  de  ma 
tete  mon  roman  de  Baireuth,  car  rever  qu'on  a  un  tresor,  et 
se  reveiller  les  mains  vides,  cela  est  trop  triste. 

J'ecris  tout  cela  au  son  du  tambour  et  des  trompettes  et  de 
mille  coups  de  fusil  qui  assourdissent  mes  pacifiques  oreilles  ; 
cela  est  bon  pour  Frederic  le  Grand.  II  lui  faut  des  armees 
le  matin,  et  Apollon  l'apres-midi.  II  a  tout :  il  carre  des 
bataillons  et  des  periodes.  Du  reste,  chaque  frere  est  dans 
sa  cellule  paisiblement ;  M.  de  Rothembourg  est  tou jours 
malade,  Maupertuis  aussi,  frere  Polnitz  un  peu  triste,  moi 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREVTH.  139 

toujours   malingre,   tou jours  travaillant,   tou jours  plein   de 
l'envie  de  faire  ma  cour  a  Vos  Altesses  Eoyales. 

Serait-il  permis,  sauf  le  respect,  de  ne  pas  oublier  M.  de 
Montperni?  Le  papier  manque.  Point  de  place  pour  les 
tres-profonds  respects.     Qu'importe  ? 

Yoltaire. 

A  Berlin",  19  Decembre,  1750. 
Madame, 

Les  ordres  de  Yotre  Altesse  Eoyale  ont  croise 
mes  hommages,  et  je  me  mettais  a,  ses  pieds  quand  elle 
daignait  m'ecrire.  J'ai  souhaite  pour  M.  le  Marquis  d'A- 
dhemar et  Spada,  j'ose  dire  aussi  pour  Vos  Altesses  Eoyales, 
qu'il  fiit  a  votre  cour.  Permettez-moi,  Madame,  d'avoir 
l'honneur  de  vous  dire  qu'il  est  bien  difficile  de  lui  proposer 
de  porter  en  poche  des  lettres  de  recommandation.  Ce  serait 
de  lui  que  des  honimes  peu  connus  en  prendraient  pour  etre 
presentes.  II  est  fils  du  grand  marechal  du  Eoi  Stanislas,  et 
il  n'a  tenu  qu'a  lui  d'etre  chambellan  de  cette  cour  avec  tous 
les  agrements  que  sa  naissance  et  son  merite  peuvent  pro- 
curer. Le  gout  de  la  guerre  Ten  a  empeche.  C'est  un  des 
meilleurs  officiers  qu'ait  le  Eoi  de  France  ;  il  etait  capitaine 
de  cavalerie,  on  lui  avait  promis  un  regiment,  on  ne  lui  a  pas 
tenu  parole.  II  devait  etre  envoye  comme  ministre  du  Eoi  a 
Bruxelles,  on  lui  a  manque  encore.  Voila  sa  situation.  J'ai 
imagine  que  le  chagrin  d'etre  inutile  et  l'idee  qu'il  a  de  Votre 
Altesse  Eoyale  pourraient  le  determiner  a  s'associer  a  votre 
cour.  Je  demande  d'abord  en  grace  a  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale 
de  souffrir  que  je  n'en  parle  a  M.  d'Adhemar  que  quand  elle 
sera  instruite  de  son  merite ;  il  sera  aise  de  charger  le 
ministre  du  Eoi  de  s'en  informer  a  Paris.  Madame  peut 
encore  faire  charger  M.  d'Ammon,  chambellan  du  Eoi,  qui  va 
en  France  pour  un  traite  de  commerce,  de  lui  rendre  compte 
de  M.  d'Adhemar,  et  d'en  parler  aux  ministres  sans  laisser 
soupconner  que   M.   d'Adhemar  veuille  quitter  la  France. 


140  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


On  verrait  bien  que  j'ai  part  a  cet  enlevement,  et  on 
ajouterait,  aux  reproches  qu'on  m'a  faits  de  quitter  mon  pays, 
celui  d'engager  encore  des  deserteurs. 

Daignez  surtout  vous  souvenir,  Madame,  que  je  n'ai  point 
promis  le  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  que  j'ai  dit  a  Yotre  Altesse 
Royale  que  je  ferais  Pimpossible  pour  l'acquerir.  Je  persiste 
toujours  dans  ce  dessein  de  vous  prouver  mon  zele,  parce  que 
je  sais  que  M.  d'Adhemar  est  capable  d'un  attachement  solide 
et  que  ce  n'est  point  un  homme  a  quitter  une  cour  charmante 
pour  aller  a.  Monaco.  J'attendrai  sur  cela  les  ordres  de  Vos 
Altesses  Royales.  Je  resterai  encore  pres  de  trois  mois  dans 
cette  abbaye  ou  l'on  vous  regrette  tous  les  jours.  Je  suis 
toujours  moine,  a  Berlin  comme  a  Potsdam,  ne  connaissant 
que  ma  cellule  et  le  reverend  pere  abbe  aupres  de  qui  je 
veux  vivre  et  mourir,  et  qui  seul  me  console  de  ne  pas  passer 
mes  jours  aupres  de  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale.  Votre  abbaye  et 
la  sienne  sont  les  seules  ou  une  ame  comme  la  mienne  puisse 
faire  son  salut.  J'ai  vu  1' office  de  sainte  Semiramis  mis 
en  vers  ou  a  peu  pres  par  frere  Cori,  chapelain  de  l'Opera. 
On  trouve  pourtant  dans  la  poesie  de  frere  Cori  des  etmcelles 
du  feu  divin  qui  anime  l'auguste  Wilhelmine.  On  eut  hier  ici 
"Phaeton,"  et  pour  mieux  representer  l'embrasement  qu'avait 
jadis  cause  ce  temeraire,  le  feu  prit  aux  decorations.  Le  roi 
etait  un  peu  indispose  et  ne  vit  point  l'opera.  La  petite 
troupe  de  Monseigneur  le  prince  Henri  va  jouer  "Zaire," 
mais  tandis  qu'on  se  rejouit,  la  mortalite  emporte  les  bestiaux, 
les  chevaux  ont  la  peste  en  Angleterre,  et  les  hommes  en 
Pologne,  sur  les  frontieres  de  la  Valachie. 

Vivez  heureuse,  Madame ;  ayez  soin  d'une  sante  si  pre- 
cieuse,  daignez  me  conserver  vos  bontes  et  celles  de  Monsei- 
gneur le  Margrave.  J'ai  execute  vos  ordres.  Je  renouvelle  a 
Vos  Altesses  Royales  mes  profonds  respects. 

Frere  Voltaire. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  141 

25  Decembre,  1750. 

Scaur  Gruilleniette  a  frere  Voltaire,  salut ;  car  je  me 
compte  parrai  les  heureux  habitants  de  votre  abbaye,  quoique 
je  n'y  sois  plus :  et  je  compte  tres-fort  si  Dieu  me  donne 
bonne  vie  et  longue,  d'y  aller  reprendre  ma  place  unjour. 
J'ai  recu  votre  consolante  epitre.  Je  vous  jure  mon  grand 
juron,  Monsieur,  qu'elle  m'a  infiniment  plus  edifiee  que 
celle  de  Saint  Paul  a  la  dame  elue.  Celle-ci  me  causait  un 
certain  assoupissement  qui  valait  l'opium,  et  m'empechait 
d'en  apercevoir  les  beautes.  La  votre  a  fait  un  effet  con- 
traire  ;  elle  m'a  tiree  de  ma  lethargie,  et  a  remis  en  mouve- 
ment  mes  esprits  vitaux. 

Quoique  vous  ayez  remis  votre  voyage  de  Paris,  j'espere 
que  vous  me  tiendrez  parole,  et  que  vous  viendrez  me  voir  ici. 
Apollon  vint  jadis  se  familiariser  avec  les  mortels,  et  ne 
dedaigna  pas  de  se  faire  pasteur  pour  les  instruire.  Faites- 
en  de  meme,  Monsieur ;  vous  ne  pouvez  suivre  de  meilleur 
modele. 

Que  dites-vous  de  l'arrivee  du  Messie  a  Dresde  ?  Pour- 
rez-vous  apres  celarevoquer  en  doute  les  miracles  ?  Si  j'avais 
ete  le  Prince  Royal  de  Saxe,  j'en  aurais  laisse  tout  l'honneur 
au  Saint-Esprit ;  mais  il  pense  comme  Charles  VI.  Lorsque 
l'Imperatrice  accoucha  de  l'Archiduc,  on  cria  que  c'etait  a 
Nepomucene  qu'on  devait  l'obligation  :  "  a  Dieu  ne  plaise  " 
dit l'Empereur,  "je  serais  done  cocu." 

Mais  laissons  la  le  Saint-Esprit  et  le  Messie.  Quoiqu'il 
fut  ne  aujourd'hui,  je  vous  assure  que  je  n'aurais  pas  pense 
a  lui,  sans  l'aventure  merveilleuse  de  Saxe.  J'aime  mieux 
penser  aux  beaux-esprits  de  Potsdam,  a  son  abbe  et  a  ses 
moines.  Ressouvenez-vous  quelquefois  en  revanche  des 
absents ;  et  comptez  toujours  sur  moi  comme  sur  une  veri- 
table amie. 

WlLHELMINE. 


142        CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

le  6  de  Janvier,  1752. 

Je  profite  d'un  moment  qui  me  reste  pour  vous  avertir, 
Monsieur,  que  le  Due  de  Wirtemberg  a  dessein  d'engager 
le  Marquis  d'Adhemar  dans  son  service.  II  a  fait  connaissance 
avec  luia  Paris,  et  j'ai  appris  par  un  cavalier  de  la  suite  du 
Due,  que  le  Marquis  d'Adhemar  se  proposait  de  venir  ici.  Je 
vous  prie  de  le  prevenir,  et  de  l'engager  a  se  rendre  bientot  en 
cette  cour.  Je  vous  souhaite  dans  le  cours  de  cette  annee 
uae  sante  parfaite.  C'est  la  seule  chose  qui  vous  manque 
pour  vous  rendre  heureux.  Nous  histrionons  ici  comme  vous 
le  faites  a  Berlin.  Adieu,  il  faut  que  je  vous  quitte  pour 
repasser  mon  role.     Soyez  persuade  de  ma  parfaite  estime. 

WlLHELMINE. 

A  Berlin,  le  6  Janvier,  1751. 

Madame, 

Frere  Voltaire  n'a  fait  que  changer  de  cellule. 
II  est  a  Berlin  comme  a  Potsdam,  tres-retire"  et  tres-pensant  a 
Votre  Altesse  Royale.  II  vous  promet,  Madame,  foi  de  moine, 
de  venir  vous  demander  votre  benediction  dans  votre  abbaye 
souveraine,  a  son  retour  de  cette  grande  ville  de  Paris,  ou 
il  faut  bien  enfin  qu'il  aille  mettre  ordre  a  ses  affaires  tem- 
porelles,  qu'il  a  trop  longtemps  negligees  pour  les  affaires 
spirituelles  du  reverend  pere  abbe.  Mais  je  suis  fort  etonne 
que  Votre  Reverence  n'ait  pas  recu  deux  lettres  de  moi, 
indigne,  au  lieu  d'une.  J'ai  eu  certainement  l'honneur  de 
vous  ecrire  deux  fois  du  prieure  de  Potsdam.  II  faut  ap- 
paremment  que  la  benediction  du  ciel  ne  favorise  pas  le 
commerce  des  moines  aussi  relaches  que  nous  le  sommes. 
Votre  Reverence  fait  de  tres-salutaires  reflexions  sur  le 
dernier  miracle.  Elle  sait  combien  les  miracles  sont  quelque- 
fois  necessaires.  II  nous  fallut  autrefois  en  France  une 
pucelle.  II  a  fallu  souvent  ailleurs  tout  le  contraire.  "  0 
Signore,  Signore,  figliuoli  in  ogni  modo  !  "    L'amour  etait  le 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  143 


Saint-Esprit  de  l'antiquite.  C'etait  lui  qui  se  melait  de  ces 
affaires-la.  Aujourd'hui  ce  sont  des  moines  et  des  saints. 
Notre  mythologie  fait  pitie  ;  il  n'y  a  rien  de  si  plat  que  ce 
qu'on  appelle  la  catholicite. 

Venons,  Madame,  aux  ordres  que  Votre  Altesse  Royale 
me  donne  pour  le  Marquis  d'Adhemar.  Je  lui  ai  ecrit  et 
j'aurai  l'honneur  de  vous  rendre  compte  de  sa  reponse.  Je 
suis  persuade  qu'il  sera  bien  sensible  au  bonheur  d'etre  admis 
dans  votre  cour.  II  a  une  ame  digne  de  la  votre,  et  j'ose 
dire  qu'il  est  fait  pour  Monseigneur  le  Margrave  et  pour  vous. 
M.  de  Montperni  trouvera  en  lui  une  societe  bien  agreable. 
II  a  d'ailleurs  beaucoup  de  gout,  il  fait  joliment  des  vers,  et, 
par-dessus  tout  eela,  c'est  le  plus  honnete  homme  du  monde 
comme  le  plus  brave.  II  est  triste  d'etre  oblige  de  parler  a 
un  homme  de  ce  caractere,  de  cette  guenille  qu'on  nomme 
appointements  et  argent,  et  c'est  salir  le  papier  que  de  fatiguer 
Votre  Altesse  Royale  de  ces  miseres  que  sceur  Guillemette 
meprise  si  fort ;  mais  ces  guenilles  etant  absolument  neces- 
saires  dans  ce  monde-ci,  et  les  rois  comme  les  charbonniers 
ne  pouvant  rien  faire  du  tout  sans  argent,  j'en  ai  parle  dans 
malettre  au  Marquis  d'Adhemar.  Je  crois  que  Votre  Altesse 
Royale  ne  me  d^savouera  pas  ;  j'ai  done  ecrit  que  quinze 
cents  ecus  seraient  a  peu  pres  ce  qu'il  faudrait.  II  me 
semble  que  les  appointements  de  M.  de  Montperni  ne  montent 
pas  au-dela  et  qu'il  ne  faut  pas  donner  lieu  a  la  jalousie, 
meme  entre  des  personnes  qui  ne  peuvent  etre  jalouses. 
J'ai  menage  votre  bourse  et  j'ai  fait  violence  a  votre  gene- 
rosite  en  proposant  quinze  cents  ecus.  II  n'y  aura  que  vous, 
Madame,  et  Monseigneur  le  Margrave  qui  pouvez  me  gronder 
d'avoir  offert  peu,  mais  mon  ami  M.  d'Adhemar  ne  m'en 
grondera  pas.  En  un  mot,  il  ne  peut  jamais  vivre  dans  une 
cour  plus  genereuse,  et  cette  cour  ne  peut  faire  une  plus  noble 
acquisition.  Je  voudrais  qu'il  put  partir  avec  ma  niece  et 
moi,  mais,  6  adorable  abbesse,  si  nous  etions  tous  trois  dans 
votre  couvent,  nous  n'en  voudrions  jamais  sortir.     Le  daignez 


144  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

faire  de  lui.     Tous  les  autres  freres  baisent  le  bas  de  votre 
sacree  robe. 

Je  ne  sais  si  M.  de  Montperni  a  recu  des  nouvelles  d'un 
petit  fou  de  comedien  que  je  lui  avais  procure  pour  recruter 
votre  troupe.  Je  voudrais  savoir  comment  il  faut  s'y  prendre 
pour  faire  souvenir  ici  de  moi  M.  de  Montperni ;  on  ne  peut 
prendre  de  ces  libertes-la  en  ecrivant  a,  Votre  Altesse  Royale. 
Je  me  mets  aux  pieds  de  Votre  Altesse  Royale,  de  Mon- 
seigneur.  Nous  jouames  hier  "  Zaire,"  Monseigneur  le  Prince 
Henri  se  surpasse,  Monseigneur  le  Prince  Royal  prononca 
tres-distinctement.  Monseigneur  le  Prince  Ferdinand  adoucit 
sa  voix,  Madame  la  Princesse  Amelie  eut  de  la  tendresse,  et 
la  reine-mere  fut  encbantee.  Mais  Baireutb,  Baireutb,  quand 
serai-je  assez  beureux  pour  voir  vos  fetes  et  surtout  pour 
admirer,  pour  reverer,  pour  oser  cberir  de  plus  pres  cette 
auguste  princesse,  a  qui  je  presente  mes  tres-profonds  respects 
de  trop  loin  !    ' 

Voltaire. 

le  23  Janvier,  1751. 

II  faut  que  je  me  sois  tres-mal  expliquee  dans  ma  derniere 
lettre,  puisque  vous  n'en  avez  pas  compris  le  sens.  Peut- 
etre  etais-je  dans  ce  moment-la,  inspiree  du  Saint-Esprit. 
Comme  vous  n'etes  pas  apotre,  vous  avez  trouve  fort  obscur 
ce  que  je  croyais  fort  clair.  J'en  viens  a,  Texplication.  Le 
Due  de  Wirtemberg  m'a  marque  qu'il  avait  dessein  d'engager 
le  Marquis  d'Adbemar  a.  son  service.  J'ai  craint  qu'il  ne 
vous  prevint,  et  vous  ai  prie  de  faire  en  sorte  que  le  Marquis 
refuse  les  propositions  qu'on  lui  fera  de  la  part  du  Due. 
Le  Margrave  ne  vous  dementira  point  par  rapport  aux 
quinze  cents  ecus  d'appointements  que  vous  lui  avez  offerts. 
Je  vous  prie  de  depecber  cette  affaire,  et  d'engager 
M.  d'Adbemar  a  se  rendre  bientot  ici.  On  lui  destine 
une  charge  de  cour   au-dessus   de  celle  de  Chambellan,  et 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  145 

vous  pouvez  compter  que  le  Margrave  aura  pour  lui  toutes 
les  attentions  imaginables. 

Je  crois  que  votre  sejour  en  Allemagne  inspire  dans  tous 
les  coeurs  la  fureur  de  reciter  des  vers.  La  cour  de  Wirtem- 
berg  revient  expres  ici  pour  histrioner  avec  nous.  Le  sense 
Vriot  nous  a  choisi,  selon  moi,  la  plus  detestable  piece  de 
theatre  qu'il  y  ait  pour  la  versification :  c'est  "  Oreste  et 
Pilades "  de  La  Motte.  J'admire  les  differentes  facons  de 
penser  qu'il  y  a  dans  le  monde.  Yous  excluez  les  femmes 
de  vos  tragedies  de  Potsdam,  et  nous  voudrions,  si  nous 
avions  un  Voltaire,  retrancher  les  hommes  de  celles  que  nous 
jouons  ici.  N'y  aurait-il  pas  moyen  que  vous  puissiez  nous 
accommoder  une  de  vos  pieces,  et  y  donner  les  deux  prin- 
cipaux  roles  aux  femmes  ?  Le  Due  et  ma  fille  jouent  fort 
joliment ;  mais  c'est  tout.  Le  pauvre  Montperni  est  encore 
trop  languissant  pour  prendre  un  grand  role,  et  le  reste  ne 
fait  qu'estropier  vos  pieces.  Je  n'ai  ose  proposer  "  Semi- 
ramis  " ;  la  Duchesse  mere  ay  ant  represents  cette  piece  a 
Stutgard. 

J'ai  vu  ces  jours  passes  un  personnage  singulier.  C'est 
un  referendaire  du  Pape ;  prelat,  Chanoine  de  Sainte-Marie, 
et  malgre  tout  cela  homme  sense,  dechaine  contre  les  moines, 
a,  l'abri  du  prejuge,  et  ne  parlant  que  de  tolerance. 

Yotre  petit  acteur  est  arrive.  Comme  j'ai  ete  tout  ce 
temps  incommodee,  je  ne  l'ai  point  encore  vu ;  mais  on  m'en 
dit  beaucoup  de  bien. 

Venez  bientot  nous  voir  dans  notre  couvent ;  c'est  tout 
ce  que  nous  souhaitons.  Le  Margrave  vous  fait  bien  des 
amities.  Saluez  tous  les  freres  qui  se  souviennent  encore  de 
moi,  et  soyez  persuade  que  l'Abbesse  de  Baireuth  ne  desire 
rien  tant  que  de  pouvoir  convaincre  frere  Voltaire  de  sa 
parfaite  estime. 

WlLHELMINE. 


146  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

30  Janvier,  1751. 
Madame, 

Votre  Altesse  Royale  a  plus  de  rivaux  qu'elle 
ne  pense,  mais  je  crois  que  le  Marquis  d'Adhemar  vous 
donnera  la  preference.  Je  lui  ecris  encore  fortement.  Tout 
mon  desir  est  de  pouvoir  etre  a  vos  pieds  au  printemps. 
Mais  quel  est  rhomme  qui  soit  le  maitre  de  sa  destinee  ? 
Frere  Voltaire  est  ici  en  penitence,  il  a  un  chien  de  proces 
avec  un  juif,  et  selon  la  loi  de  l'Ancien  Testament,  il  lui  en 
coutera  encore  pour  avoir  ete  vole,  et,  par-dessus  le  marche, 
il  en  resulte  une  tres-belle  tracasserie,  laquelle,  subdivisee  en 
quatre  ou  cinq  petites,  pourrait  former  un  sujet  de  comedie 
aussi  plaisant  que  le  manifeste  de  la  Czarine,  qui  prend 
l'Europe  a  temoin  que  M.  Grass  n'a  pas  ete  prie  a  souper. 
Cela  amuserait  Votre  Altesse  Royale  sur  votre  theatre  de 
Baireuth.  Monseigneur  le  Prince  Henri  joua  hier  "  Sidney  " 
pour  la  cloture  du  carnaval.  II  me  semble  que  c'est  mettre 
un  habit  de  deuil  un  jour  de  gala.  Voila  un  etrange  sujet 
de  comedie  pour  un  prince  de  dix-neuf  ans.  J'aimerais 
autant  voir  un  enterrement  que  cette  piece.  Mais  Monsei- 
gneur le  Prince  Henri  met  tant  de  grace  dans  tout  ce  qu'il 
recite  et  dans  tout  ce  qu'il  fait,  qu'il  ma  sauve  entitlement 
le  degout  et  la  tristesse  de  oet  ouvrage. 

Madame,  quand  nous  jouons  a  Potsdam  sans  femmes,  je 
vous  jure  que  c'est  bien  a  notre  corps  defendant.  Les 
nioines  demandent  a  Dieu  des  femmes,  mais  croyez-moi,  ne 
cherchez  point  dans  Baireuth  a  vous  passer  d'hommes.  Le 
theatre  est  la  peinture  de  la  vie  humaine,  et  dans  cette  vie  il 
faut  que  les  hommes  et  les  femmes  soient  ensemble ;  sans 
quoi,  on  ne  vit  guere  qu'a  demi.  Songez,  Madame,  a  votre 
sante,  voila  le  point  essentiel.  Si  le  merite  en  donnait,  vous 
vous  porteriez  mieux  que  toutes  les  princesses  de  ce  monde, 
mais  malheureusement  le  merite  le  plus  solide  se  trouve  chez 
vous  dans  le  corps  le  plus  faible.  Vous  etes  condamnee  au 
regime  tandis  que  la  Metrie  se  donne  par  jour  deux  indiges- 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  147 

tions  et  ne  s'en  porte  que  mieux.  Votre  Altesse  Royale  et 
le  Roi  votre  frere  sont,  je  crois,  les  princes  de  la  terre  les 
mieux  partages  en  esprit  et  le  plus  mal  en  estomacs.  II  faut 
que  tout  soit  compense.  Pour  moi  chetif,  je  compte  trainer 
ici  encore  un  mois  ou  six  semaines,  et  aller  ensuite  arranger 
mes  petites  affaires  a  Paris.  Je  ne  crois  pas  qu'on  puisse 
aller  a  Paris  par  d'autres  chemins  que  par  Baireuth,  et  mon 
cceur  qui  me  conduit  seul,  dit  qu'il  faut  que  je  prenne  cette 
route.  Je  me  mets  aux  pieds  de  Votre  Altesse  Royale  et  je 
lui  presente  mes  tres-profonds  respects  aussi  bien  qu'a 
Monseigneur. 

Yoltaire. 

le  18  Fevrier,  1751. 

Si  vous  desirez  grandement  me  revoir,  je  vous  rends  le 
reciproque  ;  partout  frere  Voltaire  sera  le  bienvenu,  en 
quelque  temps  que  ce  soit :  et  nous  tacherons  de  lui  rendre 
notre  abbaye  agreable,  autant  que  faire  sera  possible.  Ne 
vous  emerveillez  pas  de  mon  langage  de  jadis.  II  etait 
naif  ;  et  qui  dit  naif  dit  sincere.  Bref,  je  lis  les  Memoires  de 
Sully,  etj'ai  parcouru  tous  ceux  que  j'ai  sur  l'Histoire  de 
France.  Ces  memoires  secrets  mettent  infiniment  mieux  au 
fait  que  les  histoires  generales,  ou  les  auteurs  attribuent 
souvent  les  belles  actions,  tant  politiques  que  militaires, 
a  ceux  qui  n'y  ont  eu  que  peu  de  part.  J'ai  conclu  que  vous 
avez  eu  de  tres-grands  hommes,  et  des  Rois  tres  ordinaires. 
Henri  IV.  n'aurait  peut-etre  jamais  regne,  ou  ne  se  serait 
pas  maintenu,  sans  un  Sully ;  et  Louis  XIV.  sans  les 
Louvois,  les  Colbert  et  les  Turenne,  n'aurait  jamais  acquis  le 
surnom  de  Grand.  Tel  est  le  monde :  on  sacrifie  a  la 
grandeur  et  rarement  au  merite. 

Vous  me  mandez  des  choses  bien  extraordinaires. 
Apollon  est  en  proces  avec  un  juif  ?  Fi  done,  Monsieur,  cela 
est  abominable.  J'ai  cherche  dans  toute  la  mythologie,  et 
n'ai  trouve  ombre  de  plaidoyer  dans  ce  gout  au  Parnasse. 

l  2 


148  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

Quelque  comique  qu'il  soit,  je  ne  veux  point  le  voir 
representer  sur  la  scene.  Les  grands  hommes  n'y  doivent 
paraitre  que  dans  leur  lustre.  Je  veux  vous  y  contempler 
juge  de  l'esprit,  des  talents  et  des  sciences,  triomphant  des 
Racine  et  des  Corneille,  et  dictateur  perpetuel  de  la 
republique  des  belles-lettres.  J'espere  que  votre  Israelite 
aura  porte  la  peine  de  sa  fourberie,  et  que  vous  aurez  l'esprit 
tranquille. 

Envoyez-nous  bientot  le  Marquis  d'Adhemar ;  songez 
a  la  joie,  renoncez  a  la  repentance ;  portez-vous  bien  ;  pensez 
quelquefois  a  moi,  et  comptez  sur  ma  parfaite  estime. 

WlLHELMINE. 


ler  Mars,  1751. 
Madame, 

Frere  Voltaire  recut  avant-hier  la  benediction  de 
Yotre  Reverence  Royale.  Le  style  du  bon  vieux  temps  vous 
sied  aussi  bien  que  celui  d'aujourd'hui,  vous  avez  la  delicatesse 
de  l'un  et  la  naivete  de  l'autre.  Si  le  Due  de  Sully  avait 
prevu  que  ses  paperasses  economiques,  royales  et  politiques, 
seraient  lues  un  jour  par  Madame  la  Margrave  de  Baireuth, 
il  aurait  redouble  de  vanite. 

Je  crois,  Madame,  que  Votre  Altesse  Royale  est  la  premiere 
personne  qui  ait  mis  le  Due  de  Sully  au-dessus  de  Henri 
Quatre.  Pour  moi,  homme  tres-faible,  j'avoue  que  j'aime 
mieux  les  faiblesses  de  ce  bon  Roi  que  toutes  les  vertus 
austeres  de  son  ministre.  Je  crois  meme  qu'en  fait  de 
gouvernement,  Henri  le  Grand  en  savait  encorejplus  que  le  Due 
de  Sully.  Nous  ne  devons  plusieurs  manufactures  et  surtout 
l'etablissement  des  vers  a  soie  qu'a  la  Constance  eclairee 
de  ce  digne  roi  qui  l'emporta  sur  la  resistance  opiniatre 
et  aveugle  de  son  ministre. 

Au  reste,  le  Due  de  Sully  eut  souvent  des  proces  contre  les 
Juifs  qui  fournissaient  les  armees;   ainsi,  il  faut  me  par- 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  149 

donner  d'en  avoir  pu  gagner  un  contre  un  scelerat  de 
l'Ancien  Testament,  que  j'ai  traite  encore  avec  trop  de 
generosite  apres  l'avoir  fait  condamner.  Cette  affaire  m'a 
fait  une  peine  horrible,  parce  que,  comme  dit  Yotre  Altesse 
Royale,  les  gens  de  lettres  ne  semblent  etre  en  ce  monde  que 
pour  ecrire,  et  qu'ils  ne  doivent  pas  acheter  des  diamants. 

M.  d'Adhemar  me  fait  esperer  tous  les  jours  qu'il  sera 
assez  heureux  pour  venir  aupres  de  Votre  Altesse  Roy  ale. 
Si  j'etais  a  sa  place,  il  y  a  longtemps  que  je  serais  parti. 
J'espere  que  le  chambellan  d'Ammon,  qui  loge  cbez  moi  a 
Paris  et  qui  soupe  tous  les  jours  avec  le  Marquis  d'Adhemar, 
ne  me  traversera  pas  dans  ma  negociation.  Pour  la  dame 
qu'il  vous  faut,  il  n'y  a  pas  d'apparence  que  j'en  donne  sitot 
une  a.  Yotre  Altesse  Poyale ;  la  raison  en  est  que  de  deux 
choses  l'une,  ou  je  mourrai  ici  de  la  poitrine,  ou  j'irai  en 
Italie  avant  de  revoir  Paris ;  mais,  Madame,  soyez  tres-sure 
que  mon  cceur  prefer  era  en  secret  le  sejour  de  Baireuth  a, 
Saint- Pierre  de  Rome  et  a  la  place  Saint-Marc.  Les  bene- 
dictions du  pape  et  les  pantalonnades  venitiennes  ne  valent 
pas  assurement  l'honneur  de  vous  approcher  et  le  plaisir  de 
vous  entendre.  Je  me  mets  aux  pieds  de  Monseigneur 
le  Margrave  et  je  renouvelle  a  Vos  Altesses  Royales  les  tres- 
profonds  respects  et  le  sincere  attachement  du  pauvre  malade 
frere  Voltaire. 

Yos  bontes  pour  M.  de  Montperni  dont  il  est  si  digne 
semblent  me  mettre  en  droit  de  faire  ici  des  vceux  pour  sa 
sante ;    un  bon  moine  doit  prier  pour  tous  les  freres. 

Voltaire. 

X  Potsdam, 

8  Mai,  1751. 
Madame, 

Votre  Altesse  Royale  attendait  des  Adhemars,  et 
elle  a  des  Cothenius.  Au  lieu  des  plaisirs  qui  devraient  etre 
en  foule  autour  d'elle,  faudra-t-il  qu'elle  n'ait  que  des  juleps 


150  CORRESPONDENCE   BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 

et  des  pilules  ?  Faudra-t-il  toujours  craindre  pour  une  sante 
si  precieuse  ?  Si  le  vif  interet  que  tout  le  monde  prend  ici  a, 
eette  sante  pouvait  etre  de  quelque  secours  a  Yotre  Altesse 
Royale,  vous  seriez  bientot  guerie.  Le  convent  de  Potsdam 
redouble  pour  vous,  Madame,  ses  devotes  prieres;  et  moi, 
frere  indigne  de  ce  monastere,  je  ne  suis  pas  celui  dont  les 
vceux  sont  les  moins  fervents.  Votre  Altesse  Roy  ale  sait 
quels  sentiments  je  lui  ai  voues,  elle  connait  l'empire  qu'elle 
a  sur  les  cceurs.  Je  suis  egalement  attache  a  la  soeur  et  au 
frere.  Je  voudrais  chanter  mes  matines  a  Potsdam  et  mes 
vepres  a  Baireuth. 

Si  j'etais  sur,  Madame,  que  cette  lettre  vous  parvint  dans 
un  temps  ou  votre  sante  serait  meilleure,  je  vous  parlerais  du 
Marquis  d'Adhemar  qui  n'a  pas  encore  pu  se  resoudre  a  quitter 
Paris ;  je  vous  parlerais  d'un  gentilhomme  lorrain  nomme 
Liebaud,  qui  est  officier,  qui  est  homme  de  lettres,  sage, 
instruit,  et  dont  on  repond.  Mais  je  ne  peux  j>arler  que  de 
la  sante  de  Yotre  Altesse  Royale,  de  nos  inquietudes  et  de 
notre  douleur.  Que  ne  puis-je  accompagner  M.  Cothenius  ! 
que  ne  puis-je  venir  me  mettre  a  vos  pieds  et  a  ceux  de  Mon- 
seigneur  !  Le  Roi  va  a  Cleves ;  je  reste  a  griffonner  dans 
ma  cellule ;  les  maladies  qui  m'accablent  me  rendent 
sedentaire,  mais,  Madame,  j  'oublie  mes  maux  pour  ne  songer 
qu'aux  votres ;  je  suis  indigne  contre  la  nature  de  ce  que  je  ne 
suis  pas  le  seul  qui  souflre.  Pourquoi  faut-il  qu'une  ame 
aussi  ferme  que  la  votre  soit  logee  dans  un  corps  si  delicat ! 
Nous  avons  dix  mille  grands  garcons  qui  ne  pensent  point  et 
qui  tirent  actuellement  dix  mille  coups  de  fusil  aux  portes  de 
Potsdam.  lis  se  portent  a  merveille  et  Madame  la  Margrave 
de  Baireuth  souffre  !  Et  la  Providence  !  Ou  est-elle  done  ? 
Je  ne  serai  pas  son  serviteur  si  vous  n'avez  de  la  sante,  et  je 
veux  chanter  un  Te  Deum  au  retour  de  Cothenius. 

Frere  Voltaire. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  151 

Berlin, 

28  Mars,  1751. 
Madame, 

Frere  malingre,  frere  hibou,  frere  griffonneur  est 
plus  que  jamais  aux  pieds  de  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale  ;  s'il  lui 
ecrivait  aussi  souvent  qu'il  pense  a  elle,  Son  Altesse  Eoyale 
aurait  des  lettres  de  lui  cinq  ou  six  fois  par  jour. 

J'attends,  Madame,  l'heureux  temps  oii  j'aurai  assez  de 
sante  pour  faire  le  voyage  de  Baireuth  ;  il  me  semble  que  j'ai 
renonce  a  celui  de  France  et  d'ltalie,  mais  je  me  berce 
toujours  de  l'esperance  de  vous  faire  ma  cour.  II  fallait 
autrefois  que  les  virtuoses  allassent  a  Naples,  a  Florence,  a 
Ferrare ;  c'est  maintenant  a  Baireuth  qu'il  faut  aller. 

Si  Yotre  Altesse  Eoyale  a  envie  de  faire  representor  un 
nouvel  opera  chez  elle,  qu'elle  ne  prenne  pas  "  Orphee  "  que 
le  Eoi  son  frere  vient  de  faire  jouer.  Jamais  je  n'ai  vu  un  si 
sot  Pluton  et  un  Orphee  si  ennuyeux.  II  y  a  toujours  de 
beaux  morceaux  dans  la  musique  de  Grraun,  mais  cette  fois-ci 
le  poete  l'avait  subjugue.  Le  Eoi,  qui  s'y  connait  bien, 
avait  heureusement  fait  beaucoup  de  retranchements.  Je 
disais  a  un  vieux  militaire  qui  baillait  a  cote  de  moi  et  qui 
n'entendait  pas  un  mot  d'italien,  "  En  verite,  le  Eoi  est  le 
meilleur  prince  de  la  terre,  il  a  plus  que  jamais  piti6  de  son 
peuple.  Comment  done  ?  dit-il.  Oui,  ajoutai-je,  il  a  accourci 
cet  opera-ci  de  moitie  ! "  Je  me  flatte  que  Votre  Altesse 
Eoyale  aura  eu  cet  hiver  de  belles  fetes  et  de  la  sante\ 
Mais,  Madame,  songez  a  la  sante  surtout.  C'est  la  ce  qu'il 
faut  vous  souhaiter ;  la  beaute,  la  grandeur,  l'esprit,  le  don 
de  plaire,  tout  est  perdu  quand  on  digere  mal.  C'est  l'estomac 
qui  fait  les  heureux. 

Vraiment,  Madame,  je  sais  plus  de  nouvelles  de  la  Pucelle 
que  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale  ne  croit.  II  est  vrai  que  Madame 
la  Duchesse  de  Wirtemberg  passa  une  nuit  chez  vous  a  en 
transcrire  quelques  lambeaux.  Mais  ce  qu'on  a  a  Vienne  des 
depouilles  de  cette  Pucelle  vient  de  la  bataille  de  Sore ;  les 


152        CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

houzards,  qui  s'aniuserent  a  piller  les  bagages  du  Roi  pendant 
qu'il  battait  les  troupes  reglees  d'Autriche,  volerent  le  "  Siecle 
de  Louis  XIV."  et  ce  que  le  Roi  avait  de  la  Pucelie;  cela 
consiste  en  sept  ou  huit  cents  vers  detaches  du  corps  de 
l'ouvrage.  Ainsi  Jeanne  a  ete  un  peu  houspillee,  mais  elle 
n'a  pas  tout  a  fait  perdu  son  pucelage.  Cette  Jeanne  etait 
destinee  a  etre  tou jours  prise  a  la  guerre. 

J'en  fis  deux  nouveaux  chants  il  y  a  quelques  mois ;  j  'y 
fourrai  un  gros  Tirconel,  mais  mon  Tirconel  ne  l'a  pas  porte 
loin. 

Pardon,  Madame,  il  ne  me  reste  point  de  place  pour 
presenter  a,  Vos  Altesses  Royales  les  profonds  respects  de 

Frere  Voltaire. 

Potsdam, 

10  Avril,  1752. 
Madame, 

Je  n'avais  point  eu  de  nouvelles  depuis  un 
an  du  Marquis  d'Adhemar,  qui  avait  tant  d'envie  de  s'attacher 
a  Votre  Altesse  Royale,  et  que  vous  paraissiez  desireux  d'avoir 
dans  votre  maison.  II  n'avait  pu  jusqu'a  present  surmonter 
les  difficultes  que  lui  faisait  son  pere,  qui  est,  comme  le  sait 
probablement  Votre  Altesse  Royale,  grand  marechal  du  Roi 
Stanislas  a  Luneville.  Enfin,  il  me  mande  qu'il  a  leve  les 
obstacles  qu'on  lui  opposait  et  qu'il  est  pret  a  venir  se  mettre 
aux  pieds  de  Votre  Altesse  Royale ;  j 'ignore  si  vous  etes 
tou  jours,  Madame,  dans  les  memes  sentiments.  Comme 
toutes  les  charges  de  votre  maison  sont  remplies,  il  deman- 
derait  un  titre  de  chevalier  d'honneur  ;  c'est  une  charge  que 
je  ne  crois  guere  connue  qu'en  France  et  qui  repond  a  celle 
de  premier  ou  grand  ecuyer ;  mais  ce  n'est  qu'un  simple 
titre  et  il  ne  s'agit  seulement  que  de  n'avoir  pas  l'air  d'etre  un 
homme  inutile.  Je  me  souviens  que  Votre  Altesse  Royale 
avait  compte  lui  donner  quinze  cents  ecus  d'appointements. 
Voila  l'etat  ou  est  cette  petite  affaire.    J'ai  repondu  au  Mar- 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  153 

quis  d'Adbemar  que  j'attendais  vos  ordres,  et  je  n'ai  engage 

Votre  Altesse  Royale  en  rien.    Je  lui  ferai  part,  Madame,  de 

vos  dernieres  resolutions  et  des  commandements  dont  il  vous 

plaira  de  m'honorer.    Tout  ce  que  je  sais,  c'est  que  je  voudrais 

bien  grossir  quelque  temps  avec  lui  le  nombre  de  vos  cour- 

tisans  ;  mais  frere  Voltaire  ne  sait  encore  quand  il  mettra  le 

nez  bors  de  sa  cellule.    II  est  le  meilleur  moine  du  monde,  et 

s'accoutume  trop  a  la  vie  solitaire.      Je  pourrai  bien,  apres 

le  mariage  de  Monseigneur  le  Prince  Henri,  prendre  mon 

essor  et  venir  vous  faire  ma  cour.     Mais  je  ne  reponds  de 

rien  et  me  resigne  entierement  a  la  Providence.   Je  me  natte 

que  votre  sante,  Madame,  n'eprouve  plus  de  ces  orages  qui 

nous  ont  tant  alarmes  et  qu'ainsi  aucune  amertume  ne  se 

mele  a  la  douceur  de  votre  vie. 

Permettez-moi  de  renouveler  pour  jamais  a  Votre  Altesse 

Royale  et  a  Monseigneur  le  Margrave  mes  plus  profonds 

respects  et  mon  inviolable  attachement.    Si  j'osais,  je  mettrais 

ici  quelque   cbose  pour  M.  de  Montperni.     Mais  comment 

prendre  la  liberte  ? 

Voltaire. 

le  20  Avril,  1752. 

La  penitence  que  vous  vous  imposez  a  acbeve  de  flecbir  mon 
courroux.  Je  n'avais  pu  encore  oublier  votre  indifference. 
II  ne  fallait  pas  moins  qu'un  pelerinage  a  Notre-Dame  de 
Baireuth  pour  effacer  votre  pecbe.  Frere  Voltaire  sera  par- 
donne  a  ce  prix.  II  sera  le  bienvenu  ici,  et  y  trouvera  des 
amis  empresses  a  l'obliger  et  a  lui  temoigner  leur  estime. 
Je  doute  encore  de  l'accomplissement  de  vos  promesses. 
Le  climat  d'Allemagne  a-t-il  pu  en  si  peu  de  temps 
reformer  la  legerete  franc  aise  ?  Le  voyage  de  France  et 
d'ltalie  reduits  en  cbateaux  en  Espagne,  me  font  craindre 
le  meme  sort  pour  celui-ci.  Soyez  done  arcbi-germain  dans 
vos  resolutions,  et  procurez-moi  bientot  le  plaisir  de  vous 
revoir. 


154  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

Quoiqu'absent  vous  avez  eu  la  faculte  de  m'arracher  des 
larmes.  J'ai  vu  hier  repres  enter  votre  faux  prophete.  Les 
acteurs  se  sont  surpasses,  et  vous  avez  eu  la  gloire  d'emouvoir 
nos  cceurs  franconiens,  qui  d'ailleurs  ressemblent  assez  aux 
rochers  qu'ils  habit  ent. 

Le  Marquis  d'Adhemar  a  fait  ecrire  il  y  a  quatre  se- 
maines  a  M.  de  Folard.  J'ai  oublie  de  vous  le  mander  dans  ma 
derniere  lettre.  Vous  jugez  bien  que  ses  off  res  ont  ete 
re9ues  avec  plaisir.  Montperni  lui  a  ecrit  en  consequence. 
J'espere  qu'il  sera  content  des  conditions.  Elles  sont  plus 
avantageuses  que  celles  qu'il  avait  desirees.  Elles  consistent 
en  4,000  Livres,  la  table,  et  l'entretien  de  ses  equipages.  Je 
vous  prie  d'achever  votre  ouvrage,  et  de  faire  en  sorte  qu'il 
soit  bientot  fini.  Je  vous  en  aurai  une  grande  obligation. 
Vous  savez  que  le  titre  qu'il  demande  n'est  point  usite  en 
Allemagne.  Comme  il  repond  a  celui  de  Chambellan  il  aura 
ce  titre  aupres  de  moi. 

Le  temps  m'empeche  de  vous  dire  davantage  aujourd'hui. 
Soyez  persuade  que  je  serai  toujours  votre  amie. 

WlLHELMINE-. 

Fin  Mai,  1752. 
Madame, 

Je  n'ai  point  encore  recu  de  reponse  du 
Marquis  d'Adhemar.  Je  lui  ecrivis  le  jour  meme  que  j'eus 
recu  les  ordres  dont  Votre  Altesse  Poyale  m'honora.  II 
se  peut  faire  qu'il  se  soit  adresse  a  M.  le  chevalier  de  Follard, 
ou  qu'il  ait  eu  l'honneur  d'ecrire  a  Votre  Altesse  Royale. 
Peut-etre  a-t-il  deja  le  bonheur  d'etre  aupres  d'elle  sans  que 
j'en  sois  instruit  dans  la  profonde  et  heureuse  solitude  de 
Potsdam.  Peut-etre  n'a-t-il  point  encore  pu  prendre  son 
parti.  II  est  difficile,  Madame,  a  ce  que  je  vois,  d'avoir  des 
Adhemar  et  des  Grraffigny ;  il  est  plus  aise  de  s'emparer  des 
pauvres  Voltaires,  gens  qui  ne  sont  bons  a  rien,  mais  qui  se 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  155 

donnent  de  tout  cceur  a  ce  qu'ils  ont  Finsolence  d'aimer. 
Je  suis  reste  a  Potsdam  pendant  que  le  Eoi  votre  frere  est 
alle  faire  la  guerre  dans  les  campagnes  de  Berlin.  Yous 
savez  qu'il  a  eu  un  acees  de  goutte  assez  long  et  assez  violent. 
Savez-vous,  Madame,  que  pendant  cet  acces  il  mettait  son 
pied  enfle  dans  une  botte  et  s'en  allait  faire  des  revues 
pendant  la  pluie  ?  La  posterite  ne  s'etonnera  pas  apres  cela 
qu'il  ait  gagne  des  batailles.  Je  l'admire  tous  les  jours,  et 
comme  roi,  et  comme  homme.  Sa  bonte  et  son  indulgence 
dans  la  societe  font  le  charme  de  ma  vie.  II  a  eu  bien 
raison  de  dire,  dans  une  de  ses  belles  epitres  :  qu'il  etait  roi 
severe  et  citoyen  humain,  mais  il  est  encore  plus  citoyen 
humain  que  roi  severe.  Ses  vertus  et  ses  talents,  sa  pkilosophie, 
son  mepris  pour  les  superstitions,  sa  retraite,  l'uniformite 
de  sa  vie,  son  application  continuelle  a  l'etude  comme 
au  soin  de  ses  Etats,  tout  cela  m'attache  a  lui  bien 
intimement  et  pour  jamais.  Je  suis  bien  loin  de  me 
repentir  d'avoir  tout  quitte  pour  lui.  En  verite,  Madame, 
Votre  Altesse  Royale  devrait  bien  l'avertir  dans  quel- 
qu'une  de  ses  lettres  qu'il  me  tourne  la  tete.  II  m'inspire 
plus  d'enthousiasme  que  le  fanatisme  n'en  donne  aux  devots. 
Mais  je  ne  lui  en  dis  mot  et  il  ne  sait  pas  tout  mon  secret. 
Je  parle  un  peu  plus  librement  a  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale  de  mon 
attachement  pour  elle,  de  mon  envie  de  lui  faire  ma  cour  a 
Baireutb  et  d'aller  ainsi  d'un  paradis  dans  un  autre,  mais 
quand  ?  Je  n'en  sais  rien  du  tout.  Je  suis  pour  mes  voyages 
ce  qu'est  d'Adhemar  pour  la  transmigration,  je  ne  prends 
point  de  parti.  Tout  ce  que  je  sais,  c'est  que  quand  on  est 
une  fois  a  Baireuth  ou  a  Potsdam,  on  n'en  veut  point  sortir. 
Vous  allez,  Madame,  avoir  une  nouvelle  belle-sceur.  Tout 
se  prepare  pour  des  fetes  brillantes,  mais  elles  ne  vaudront 
pas  a  mes  yeux  celles  que  j'ai  vues  il  y  a  deux  ans;  vous 
les  embellissiez,  et  d'ailleurs,  un  vieux  philosophe  retire 
doit-il  se  produire  a  de  nouvelles  mariees  ?  Suis-je  fait 
pour  etre   garcon   de   la  noce?    Je  fais  des  voeux  en  bon 


156  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

moine  pour  les   grands   succes   de   Monseigneur   le    Prince 
Henri. 

riaisirs,  graces,  amours,  troupe  jeune  et  legere, 
Voltigez  pres  du  lit  ou  ce  prince  est  couche. 

Avec  vous  je  n'ai  rien  a  faire, 

Et  plus  que  vous  j'en  suis  fache. 

Je  presente  mon  profond  respect  et  mon  devouement 
inviolable  a  Votre  Altesse  Royale  et  a.  Monseigneur  le 
Margrave.     M.  de  Montperni  a-t-il  oublie 

Frere  Voltaire  ? 

A  Potsdam,  Juin  5,  1752. 
Madame, 

Frere  Voltaire  qui  n'en  peut  plus,  frere  Voltaire 
qui  se  meurt,  interrompt  l'agonie  pour  dire  a  Votre  Altesse 
Royale  qu'il  croit  a  present  M.  d'Adhemar  a  votre  service,  il 
me  parait  qu'il  sent  tout  son  bonheur.  Pour  moi,  je  ne  suis 
plus  bon  a  rien  et  je  ne  sais  pas  comment  le  Eoi  votre  frere  a 
la  bonte  de  me  garder.  On  dit  que  Madame  la  Margrave 
d'Ansbach  est  a  Berlin.  II  y  a  une  Margrave  que  je 
voudrais  bien  y  voir  revenir,  j 'imagine  que  l'honneur  de  lui 
faire  ma  cour  me  rendrait  ma  sante.  Pourquoi  n'y  viendriez- 
vous  pas,  Madame  ?  On  pretend  que  la  peste  est  clans  le  Haut- 
Palatinat,  cela  n'est  peut-etre  pas  vrai,  la  renommee  ne  va 
pas  a  Potsdam  quand  le  Roi  n'y  est  pas.  On  y  est  sequestre 
du  genre  humain.  Lui  absent,  tout  est  enterre.  S'il  est 
vrai  que  la  peste  est  dans  vos  quartiers,  Potsdam  est  une 
vraie  sauvegarde  ;  on  enverra  contre  elle  des  detachements  de 
grands  grenadiers ;    elle  s'enfuira  comme  les  Autrichiens. 

Le  Marquis  d'Adhemar  m'ecrit  encore  pour  me  dire  qu'il 
serait  deja  aux  pieds  de  Votre  Altesse  Royal  e  sans  une 
grande  maladie  qu'il  a  eue  ;  je  me  flatte  que  ce  n'est  pas  la 
peste.  Frere  Voltaire  se  prosterne  sur  son  grabat  devant 
Votre  Altesse  Royale  et  devant  Monseigneur. 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  157 


le  12  Juin,  1752. 

Le  Marquis  d'Adhemar  n'est  point  encore  arrive,  mais 
nous  l'attendons  a  toute  heure.  II  a  ete  malade,  ce  qui  a 
diflere  son  depart.  Je  crois  qu'il  est  beaucoup  plus  facile 
d'avoir  des  Adhernar  et  des  Grraffigny,  que  des  Voltaire. 
II  n'y  a  que  le  Eoi  qui  soit  en  droit  de  posseder  ceux-ci. 
Yous  me  faites  eprouver  le  sort  de  Tantale.  Vous  me 
flattez  toujours  par  la  promesse  de  venir  faire  un  tour  ici, 
et  lorsque  je  m'attends  a  vous  voir,  mes  esperances  s'evanouis- 
sent.  Si  vous  en  aviez  eu  bonne  envie,  vous  auriez  pu 
profiter  de  l'absence  du  Hoi ;  mais  vous  suivez  la  maxime  de 
beaucoup  de  grands  ministres,  qui  payent  de  belles  paroles 
sans  eftet.  J'ai  ecrit  au  Roi  ce  que  vous  me  mandez  sur 
son  sujet.  II  est  difficile  de  le  connaitre  sans  l'aimer,  et 
sans  s'attacher  a  lui.  II  est  du  nombre  de  ces  phenomenes 
qui  ne  paraissent  tout  au  plus  qu'une  fois  dans  un  siecle. 
Vous  connaissez  mes  sentiments  pour  ce  cher  Frere,  ainsi  je 
tranche  court  sur  ce  sujet.  Nous  menons  presentement  une 
vie  champetre.  Je  partage  mon  temps  entre  mon  corps  et 
mon  esprit :  il  faut  bien  soutenir  l'un  pour  conserver  l'autre, 
car  je  m'apercois  de  plus  en  plus  que  nous  ne  pensons  et 
n'agissons  que  selon  que  notre  machine  est  montee.  Vous 
semblez  devenu  bien  misanthrope.  Vous  restez  a  Potsdam 
tandis  que  le  Roi  est  a  Berlin,  et  vous  vous  imaginez  qu'un 
philosophe  ne  convient  point  a  une  noce.  On  voit  bien  que 
vous  n'avez  jamais  tate  du  mariage,  et  que  vous  ignorez 
qu'un  des  points  essentiels  dans  cet  etat  est  d'etre  bon 
philosophe,  surtout  en  Allemagne.  Les  quatre  vers  que  vous 
faites  sur  ce  sujet,  me  paraissent  un  peu  epicuriens,  et  cet 
epicurianisme  est  incompatible  avec  la  misanthropie.  II  ne 
vous  faudrait  qu'une  nouvelle  Uranie  pour  vous  tirer  de  vos 
reflexions  noires,  et  pour  vous  remettre  dans  le  gout  des 
plaisirs. 

Le  Margrave  vous  fait  bien  des  amities.     Montperni  est 


158  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

tou jours  de  vos  amis.  Nous  parlons  souvent  de  vous ;  mais 
cacochyme,  et  d'ailleurs  accable  d'affaires,  il  ne  peut  vous 
ecrire.  Ses  douleurs  diminuent,  mais  il  les  a  tous  les  jours 
pendant  quelques  heures,  et  vit  comme  un  moine  pour  tacher 
de  se  retablir.  Je  ne  le  vois  qu'un  moment  par  jour.  II 
faisait  la  meilleure  piece  de  notre  petite  societe.  J'espere 
qu'Adhemar  y  suppleera. 

Soyez  persuade  que  je  ne  cherche  que  les  occasions  de 
vous  convaincre  de  ma  parfaite  estime. 

P.S. — Le  Eoi  me  dit  lorsque  j'etais  a  Berlin  qu'il  voulait 
faire  ecrire  l'Esprit  de  Bayle.  Si  cet  ouvrage  a  eu  lieu,  et 
qu'on  puisse  l'avoir,  je  vous  prie  de  me  le  procurer.  J'ai 
recu  un  supplement  au  dictionnaire  fait  en  Angleterre.  Selon 
moi,  il  repond  tres-mal  a  son  original. 

Potsdam,  17  Juin,  1752. 
Madame, 

Frere  Voltaire  ne  sait  ce  qu'il  dit,  il  ne  croira 
jamais  ce  qu'il  entendra  debiter  dans  sa  cellule  quand  le 
heros  de  la  renommee  ne  sera  pas  a  Potsdam.  Le  pauvre 
homme,  avec  sa  nouvelle  de  l'arrivee  d'une  Margrave 
a  Berlin  et  de  la  peste  a  Augsbourg !  II  demande  bien 
pardon  a  Yotre  Altesse  Royale.  Tout  ce  qu'il  sait,  c'est  que 
le  Marquis  d'Adhemar  jure  qu'il  va  se  remettre  a  vos  pieds 
s'il  n'y  est  deja.  Frere  Voltaire  ferait  bien  de  ne  quitter 
jamais  sa  cellule  que  pour  venir  dans  votre  abbaye.  II 
continue  ses  vceux  et  ses  ferventes  prieres,  pour  la  sante, 
la  prosperity,  la  longue  vie  de  Votre  Altesse  Royale  et  celle 
de  Monseigneur,  et  point  du  tout  pour  la  vie  eternelle. 

Voltaire. 

Madame, 

Frere  Voltaire,  comme  voit  Votre  Altesse  Royale, 
n'ecrit  que  de  Dieu.  Aussi  est-il  dans  un  couvent  ou  l'on  fait 
son  salut.     II  y  aurait  un  plus  gros  volume  que  la  Somme  de 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  159 

Saint-Thomas  a  faire  sur  la  theologie  dont  il  est  question  ;  il 
met  a  vos  pieds  la  these  ci-jointe.  C'est  a  Votre  Reverence 
Royale  a  prononcer.  II  y  a  en  France  des  moines  de 
Fontevraux  .qui  obeissent  aveuglement  a  une  abesse,  je  me 
sens  de  ce  nombre.  Auriez-vous  besoin,  Madame,  d'un 
lecteur,  d'une  poitrine  et  d'un  esprit  infatigables,  theologien 
ne  croyant  pas  en  Dieu,  savant  comme  Lacroze,  aussi  gros  que 
lui,  mangeant  tout  autant,  tres-serviable  et  peu  cher  ?  Je 
pourrais  le  procurer  a  Yotre  Altesse  Royale.  Elle  sait  que 
je  ne  lui  fais  pas  de  mauvais  presents,  et  elle  peut  compter 
sur  le  zele  que  j'aurai  toute  ma  vie  pour  son  service. 

J'ai  execute  ses  ordres  aupres  du  Baron  de  Polnitz.  C'est 
de  quoi  lui  rendre  la  sante,  et  il  s'en  porte  deja  mieux :  si 
jamais  j'ai  cette  sante  que  l'auteur  de  la  Religion  naturelle 
m'a  refusee  tout  net,  je  viendrai  surement  m'informer  a 
Baireuth  de  la  votre.  Baireuth  est  l'eglise  ou  je  veux  aller  en 
pelerinage  ofirir  un  culte  de  latrie  et  me  prosterner  devant 
l'auguste  sainte  que  je  prie  avec  le  plus  profond  respect. 

Monseigneur  daigne-t-il  agreer  meSj  hommages  et  Son 
Altesse  Royale  daigne-t-elle  permettre  que  je  mette  dans  ce 
paquet  une  lettre  pour  M.  d'Adhemar  ?  Je  suis  bien  touche 
de  l'etat  de  M.  de  Montperni.  Votre  Altesse  Royale 
perdrait  la  un  serviteur  tel  que  les  princes  n'en  trouvent 
guere. 

A  Potsdam, 

24  Odobre,  1752. 
Madame, 

Frere  Voltaire,  mort  au  monde,  amoureux  de  sa 
cellule  et  de  son  couvent  dont  il  n'est  sorti  depuis  huit  mois, 
rompt  enfin  son  silence  pour  Votre  Altesse  Royale.  Son 
detachement  des  choses  humaines  lui  laisse  encore  quelque 
faiblesse,  et  cette  faiblesse,  Madame,  est  toute  pour  vous.  II 
croit  meme   que   ce   n'en   est   point  une,  et  que   Dieu  lui 


160  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

pardonnera  de  conserver  un  attachement  si  raisonnable  pour 
une  de  ses  plus  parfaites  creatures.  Je  prends  la  liberte 
de  lui  envoyer  un  petit  ouvrage  de  devotion  que  j'ai 
fait  pour  mon  tres-reverendissime  pere  en  Dieu,  le  philo- 
sophe  de  Sans  Souci.  Je  supplie  instamment  Yotre 
Reverence  Royale  de  ne  pas  permettre  qu'on  en  fasse  de 
copie.  II  ne  faut  pas  que  les  niysteres  des  saints  soient 
exposes  a  des  yeux  profanes.  Ce  pieux  manuscrit  est  en  bien 
petits  caracteres,  mais  elle  pourra  se  le  faire  lire  par  M.  le 
Marquis  d'Adhemar,  ou  par  M.  le  Marquis  de  Montperni, 
diacres  de  son  eglise.  Je  suis  bien  fache  d'etre  reduit  a 
presumer  seulement  que  M.  d'Adhemar  soit  aupres  de  Son 
Altesse  Royale ;  je  n'ai  aucune  nouvelle  de  lui  depuis  six 
mois.  S'il  est  aupres  de  vous,  Madame,  je  ne  suis  pas  surpris 
qu'il  oublie  le  genre  humain.  J'espere  toujours  faire  un 
petit  voyage  en  Italie  et  voir  la  ville  souterraine  avant  de 
mourir.  Mais  avant  d'aller  voir  ce  qui  est  sous  terre,  je 
compte  bien  venir  faire  ma  cour  a  ce  qu'il  y  a  sur  la  terre  de 
plus  adorable,  et  renouveler  a  Votre  Altesse  Royale  et  a 
Monseigneur  les  profonds  respects  et  la  devotion  ardente  de 
Frere 

Voltaire. 


Erlang,  le  premier  de  Novembre,  1752. 

II  faudrait  avoir  plus  d'esprit  et  de  delicatesse  que  je 
n'en  ai  pour  louer  dignement  l'ouvrage  que  j  'ai  recu  de  votre 
part.  On  doit  s'attendre  a  tout  de  frere  Voltaire.  Ce  qu'il 
fait  de  beau  ne  surprend  plus,  l'admiration  depuis  longtemps 
a  succede  a  la  surprise.  Votre  poeme  sur  la  loi  naturelle 
m'a  enchantee.  Tout  s'y  trouve.  La  nouveaute  du  sujet, 
l'elevation  des  pensees,  et  la  beaute  de  la  versification. 
Oserai-je  le  dire?  II  n'y  manque  qu'une  chose  pour  le 
rendre  parfait.  Le  sujet  exige  plus  d'etendue  que  vous 
ne  lui  en  avez  donne.     La  premiere  proposition   demande 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  161 

surtout  une  plus  ample  demonstration.     Permettez  que  je 
m'instruise,  et  que  je  vous  fasse  part  de  mes  doutes. 

Dieu,  dites-vous,  a  donne  a,  tous  les  hommes  la  justice  et 
la  conscience  pour  les  avertir,  comme  il  leur  a  donne  ce  qui 
leur  est  necessaire. 

Dieu  ayant  donne  a,  l'homme  la  justice  et  la  conscience  ces 
deux  vertus  sont  innees  dans  l'homme  et  deviennent  un 
attribut  de  son  etre.  II  s'ensuit  de  toute  necessite  que 
l'homme  doit  agir  en  consequence,  et  qu'il  ne  saurait  etre 
ni  injuste  ni  sans  remords,  ne  pouvant  combattre  un  instinct 
attache  a  son  essence.  L'experience  prouve  le  contraire.  Si 
la  justice  etait  un  attribut  de  notre  etre,  la  chicane  serait 
bannie ;  les  avocats  mourraient  de  f  aim ;  vos  conseillers  au 
Parlement  ne  s'occuperaient  pas,  comme  ils  sont,  a  troubler  la 
France  pour  un  morceau  de  pain  donne  ou  refuse ;  les 
Jesuites,  les  Jansenistes  confesseraient  leur  ignorance  en  fait 
de  doctrine. 

Les  vertus  ne  sont  qu'accidentelles  et  relatives  a,  la  societe. 
L'amour  propre  a  donne  le  jour  a  la  justice.  Dans  les 
premiers  ,temps  les  hommes  s'entre  dechiraient  pour  des 
bagatelles  (comme  ils  font  encore  de  nos  jours) ;  il  n'y  avait 
ni  surete  pour  le  domicile,  ni  siirete  pour  la  vie.  Le  tien  et  le 
mien,  malheureuses  distinctions  (qu'on  ne  fait  que  tropde  notre 
temps)  bannissaient  tout  union.  L'homme  eclaire  par  la  raison, 
et  pousse  par  l'amour  propre  s'apercut  enfin  que  la  societe  ne 
pouvait  subsister  sans  ordre.  Deux  sentiments  attaches  a  son 
etre  et  inne  sen  lui,  le  porterent  a  devenir  juste.  La  conscience 
ne  fut  qu'une  suite  de  la  justice.  Les  deux  sentiments  dont 
je  veux  parler  sont  l'aversion  des  peines,  et  l'amour  du  plaisir. 

Le  trouble  ne  peut  qu'enfanter  la  peine,  la  tranquillite  est 
mere  du  plaisir.  Je  me  suis  fait  une  etude  particuliere 
d'approfondir  le  coeur  humain.  Je  juge  par  ce  que  je  vois 
de  ce  qui  a  ete.  Mais  je  m'enfonce  trop  dans  cette  matiere 
et  pourrais  bien,  comme  Icare,  me  voir  precipiter  du  haut 
des  cieux.     J'attends  vos  decisions  avec  impatience;   je  les 

M 


162  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

regarderai  comme  des  oracles.  Conduisez-moi  dans  le 
cheniin  de  la  verite,  et  soyez  persuade  qu'il  n'y  en  a  point  de 
plus  evidente  que  le  desir  que  j'ai  de  vous  prouver  que  je 
suis  votre  sincere  amie. 

WlLHELMINE. 

A  Francfort, 

17  Juin,  1753. 

Je  prends  la  liberte  de  supplier  instamment  Son  Altesse 
Roy  ale  de  daigner  seulement  faire  parvenir  a  Sa  Majeste 
cette  requete.  Nous  n'avons  d'esperance  que  dans  sa  pro- 
tection. L'etat  cruel  ou  je  suis  est  mon  excuse  si  je  ne  peux 
ecrire  que  ce  peu  de  lignes  trempe  de  mes  larmes. 

Je  me  mets  a  ses  pieds. 

Voltaire. 

A  Strasbourg, 

le  22  Decembre,  1753. 
Madame, 

Je  me  regarderais  comme  coupable  envers  Votre 
Altesse  Royale,  et  je  trahirais  mes  plus  chers  sentiments  si  je 
ne  lui  ecrivais  pas  dans  cette  occasion. 

Mme  la  Duchesse  de  Grotha  vient  de  me  remplir  de 
surprise  et  de  reconnaissance,  en  me  mandant  qu'elle  a 
charge  M.  de  Grotter  de  parler  au  Itoi  votre  frere  et  d'implorer 
en  ma  faveur  votre  protection  aupres  de  Sa  Majeste.  Votre 
Altesse  Royale  n'ignore  pas  que  je  n'en  ai  jamais  voulu 
d'autre  que  la  votre.  Sans  la  fatale  circonstance  et  le 
malheureux  voyage  de  ma  niece,  j'aurais  ete  de  Leipzick  a 
Baireuth  me  mettre  a  vos  pieds.  Le  mal  est  fait,  mais  est- 
il  sans  remede  ?  La  pkilosophie  du  Hoi,  votre  humanite,  vos 
conseils,  vos  prieres,  tout  cela  ne  pourra-t-il  rien  ?  Qui  dira 
la  verite  a  un  grand  homme,  si  ce  n'est  pas  vous,  Madame  ? 
J'avoue,  j'ai  ecrit  au  Roi  et  je  dirai  toute  ma  vie  que  j'ai  eu 
tort  de  m'opiniatrer,  mais,  Madame,  est-ce  une  affaire  cl'Etat  ? 
c'est  une  puerilite  de  litterature,  c'est  une  querelle  d'algebre, 


AND    THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  163 


c'est  un  minimum,  et  c'est  pour  cela  que  j'ai  ete  prisonnier 
six  semaines  a  Francfort ;  que  j'ai  perdu  la  saison  des  eaux 
dans  une  maladie  affreuse ;  que  ma  niece  a  ete  trainee  par 
des  soldats  dans  les  rues  de  Francfort ;  qu'un  malheureux, 
qui  a  ete  seul  avec  elle  pendant  toute  la  nuit,  et  qui  lui  a  ote 
ses  domestiques,  Fa  voulu  outrager  ?  Ces  violences  ont  ete 
exercees  par  un  nomme  Freitag  qui  se  dit  ministre  du  Roi. 
Le  Roi  ne  sait  pas  que  c'est  un  homme  qui  a  ete  condamne 
a  etre  sous  la  potence  et  a  trainer  la  brouette  a  Dresde. 
Toutes  ces  affreuses  circonstances  sont  connues  dans  toutes 
les  cours,  et  Sa  Majeste  les  ignore  peut-etre. 

Pour  moi,  Madame,  quel  est  mon  etat  ?  Je  suis  vieux  et 
infirme,  j  'avais  sacrifie  au  Roi  les  dernieres  annees  de  ma  vie, 
je  n'ai  v£cu  que  pour  lui  seul  pendant  trois  annees.  Tout 
mon  temps  a  ete  partage  entre  lui  et  le  travail.  J'ai  tout 
abandonne  pour  lui,  il  le  sait ;  ne  se  souviendra-t-il  que  d'une 
rnalheureuse  querelle  litteraire  ?  II  faut,  Madame,  vous  dire 
la  verite !  Votre  Altesse  Royale  est  digne  de  l'entendre. 
Tout  le  mal  vient  de  la  lettre  que  le  Roi  fit  imprimer  contre 
Koenig  et  contre  moi  dans  le  temps  qu'il  n'etait  pas  instruit 
de  la  dispute.  Je  ne  dis  pas  cela  pour  diminuer  mon  tort. 
J'avouerai  toujours  que  j'en  ai  un  tres-grand,  de  n'avoir  pas 
garde  le  silence  et  de  m'etre  opiniatre  ;  mais  quinze  ans  de 
l'attachement  le  plus  tendre  doivent  assurement  trouver  grace 
pour  un  moment  d'humeur.  J'ose  en  faire  juge  Votre  Altesse 
Royale.  Je  lui  demande  s'il  n'est  pas  de  la  gloire  d'un  aussi 
grand  homme  d'oublier  une  faute  et  de  se  souvenir  des 
services  ?  Faudra-t-il  qu'il  reste  a  la  posterite  tant  de  monu- 
ments de  la  correspondance  dont  le  Roi  m'a  honore  et  de 
l'idolatrie  que  j'ai  eue  pour  lui,  et  que  la  posterite  dise : 
Tout  a  fini  par  la  prison  et  par  insulter  une  f emme  innocente  ? 
Ah  !  Madame,  n'y  a-t-il  de  gloire  qu'a  avoir  une  bonne 
armee  ?  Le  Roi  votre  frere  aime  la  veritable  gloire  et  il  la 
merite  ;  il  vous  aime,  il  doit  vous  croire ;  Madame,  il  s'agit 
de  signaler  la  grandeur  de  votre  ame  et  de  toucher  la  sienne. 

m  2 


164        CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

Faites  tout  ce  qu'il  vous  plaira,  je  me  mets  entitlement  entre 
vos  mains  respectables.  Je  ne  parle  pas  a  Yotre  Altesse 
Royale  de  tout  ce  qu'on  dit  a  Versailles,  a  Vienne,  a  Paris,  a 
Londres ;  c'est  votre  cceur  seul  qu'il  faut  ecouter,  c'est  au 
cceur  seul  du  Roi  que  vous  parlerez.  Vous  le  toucherez 
puisque  vous  l'avez  entrepris.  Le  mien  sera  a  jamais  penetre 
du  plus  profond  et  du  plus  tendre  respect  pour  Votre  Altesse 
Royale.  Votre  Altesse  Royale  permet-elle  que  je  me  mette 
aux  pieds  de  Monseigneur 

Jadis  Frere  Voltaire  ? 


A    COLMAR, 

25  Janvier,   1757. 
Madame, 

Je  mets  aux  pieds  de  Votre  Altesse  Royale 

ce   nouvel  hommage  que  je  vous  supplie  d'agreer.     Frere 

Voltaire  est  toujours  le  meme,  il  n'a  fait  que  changer  de 

cellule,  il  n'a  point  change  de  sentiment,  et  peut-etre  qu'un 

jour  le  tres-renomme  et  tres-respectable  pere  prieur  saura  que 

son  moine  ne  lui  a  jamais  manque  et  qu'il  conservera  son 

attachement  jusqu'au  tombeau. 

Je  supplie  Votre  Altesse  Royale  de  vouloir  permettre  que 
je  presente  par  ses  mains,  qui  embellissent  tout  ce  qu'elles 
touchent,  ce  faible  ouvrage  a  celui  qui  a  ete  toujours  l'objet 
de  ce  que  j'ai  pense  et  de  ce  que  j'ai  ecrit,  et  qui  en  est 
comme  vous  le  meilleur  juge. 

Je  serai  toute  ma  vie  avec  le  plus  profond  respect  et 
l'attachement  le  plus  inviolable,  Madame,  de  Votre  Altesse 
Royale  le  tres-humble  et  tres-obeissant  serviteur, 

Voltaire. 

Permettra-t-elle  que  je  mette  deux  exemplaires  dans  ce 
paquet  pour  M.  d'Adhemar  et  pour  M.  de  Montperni  ? 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  165 

A.  Maurion,  pres  be  Lausanne, 
17  Fevrier,  1756. 
Madame, 

Vous  etes  de  ces  divinites  qui  ne  sont  faites 
que  pour  repandre  des  graces.  On  dit  de  Dieu  qu'il  ne  fait 
point  le  mal,  mais  qu'il  le  permet. 

Mme  la  Princesse  de  Passau  Saarbruck  a  envoye  a  Paris 
certain  ouvrage  sur  la  Religion  naturelle  et  je  peux  jurer  a 
Yotre  Altesse  Poyale  que  je  n'en  avais  jamais  donne  de  copie 
qu'a  vous  seule.  Le  Poi  votre  frere  ne  s'est  jamais  dessaisi 
de  l'original.  C'etait  un  poeme  tres-informe,  je  l'ai  beaucoup 
corrige  depuis,  et  voici  comment  il  commence : 

Souveraine  sans  faste  et  femme  sans  faiblesse, 

Vous  dont  la  raison  male  et  la  ferme  sagesse 

Sont  pour  moi  des  attraits  plus  chers,  plus  precieux 

Que  les  feux  seduisants  qui  partent  de  vos  yeux, 

Digne  ouvrage  d'un  Dieu,  connaissons  notre  maitre,  etc. 

Apres  ce  petit  debut,  Yotre  Altesse  Poyale  ne  peut 
manquer  de  prendre  le  sermon  et  le  predicateur  sous  sa 
protection.  Le  Roi  votre  frere  ajoute  a  sa  gloire  qui  semblait 
ne  pouvoir  plus  croitre  ;  il  fait  des  traites  qui  valent  mieux 
que  des  victoires,  il  ecarte  les  etrangers  de  sa  patrie,  il 
affermit  le  trone  des  autres  et  il  assure  le  sien.  Ce  n'est  pas 
tout,  il  m'envoie  ma  "  Merope  "  tournee  par  lui  en  opera. 
Tout  cela  est  beau,  mais  il  manque  de  m'aimer. 

Que  Votre  Altesse  Poyale  daigne  s'amuser  d'un  autre 
sermon  que  j'ai  l'honneur  de  lui  envoy er,  qu'elle  juge  entre 
Pope  et  moi.  Je  souhaite  que  tout  soit  bien  a  jamais  pour 
elle.  Je  me  mets  aux  pieds  de  Monseigneur  et  aux  votres 
avec  le  plus  profond  respect  et  le  zele  eternel  de  frere 

Voltaire. 


166  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 


Je  prendrais  la  liberie  de  le  supplier  de  m'envoyer  des 
grains  de  ses  melons,  et  je  demanderais  la  protection  de 
Votre  Altesse  Royale,  s'il  etait  a  Berlin. 

Mais  il  a  autre  chose  a  faire  qu'a  honorer  de  ses  melons 
mes  potagers. 

Que  Votre  Altesse  Eoyale  et  Monseigneur  daignent 
tou  jours  agreer  les  profonds  respects  et  les  prieres  de  frere 

Voltaire. 

A  Matxrion, 

5  Mars,  1757. 
Madame, 

Que  Votre  Altesse  Royale  daigne  me  conserver 
ses  bontes,  que  Dieu  la  preserve  des  Russes,  et  moi,  chetif, 
des  glaces  de  Petersbourg !  J'ai  ete  tente,  un  jour  qu'il 
faisait  un  beau  soleil,  d'aller  voir  l'ete  prochain  cette  capitale 
d'un  empire  nouveau  dont  on  veut  que  j'ecrive  l'histoire. 
Je  me  disais  :  "  J'irai  a  Baireuth  me  mettre  aux  pieds  de 
"  ma  protectrice,  j'aurai  des  passe-ports  du  Eoi  son  frere,  que 
"  je  devrai  a  la  protection  de  sa  bienfaisante  sceur."  Mais  le 
vent  du  nord,  mon  respect  pour  les  houzards  et  les  beaux 
secours  qu'un  voyageur  trouve  en  Pologne,  ont  detruit  ma 
chimere,  et  je  me  suis  reduit  a  jouer  le  bonbomme  Lusignan 
dans  "  Zaire,"  devant  une  grave  assemblee  Suisse.  Notre 
troupe,  en  verite,  n'aurait  pas  ete  indigne  de  paraitre  devant 
Votre  Altesse  Royale. 

II  y  a,  Madame,  une  fille  d'esprit  a  Geneve  qui  chante  a 
peu  pres  comme  Mademoiselle  Astrux,  et  qui  est  surtout 
inimitable  dans  les  operas-bouffes.  Ce  n'est  pas  qu'on  joue 
des  operas  dans  Geneve ;  on  n'y  chante  que  des  psaumes. 
J'ai  vu  autrefois  Votre  Altesse  Royale  dans  le  gout  de 
s'attacher  une  personne  d'esprit  et  de  talent.  Cette 
demoiselle,  tres-bien  nee,  serait  plus  faite  pour  la  cour  de 
Baireuth   que   pour   Geneve.     Mais   il  ne   faut  pas  parler 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  *    167 

d'amusements  quand  tout  se  prepare  pour  une  guerre  si 
serieuse.  La  cour  de  Versailles  vient  de  creer  huit  marecbaux 
de  France,  et  cinquante  mille  bonimes  defilent  actuellement 
pour  la  Flandre  ;  du  moms  les  marecbaux  des  logis  sont 
deja  partis.  Le  Roi  votre  frere  sera  a  portee  de  faire  de  plus 
grandes  choses  qu'il  n'en  a  faites  encore.  De  la,  il  retournera 
a  la  pbilosopbie  pour  laquelle  il  est  ne  aussi  bien  que  pour 
l'heroisme,  et  il  se  souviendra  d'un  liomme  qui  avait  quitte 
pour  lui  sa  patrie.  II  ne  sait  pas  eombien  j'etais  attacbe  a. 
sa  personne. 

Votre  cbambellan,  Madame,  qui  recent  d'ltalie,  sait  qu'on 
peut  vivre  beureux  dans  ma  petite  retraite  aupres  de  Geneve, 
appelee  les  Delices,  mais  il  sait  aussi  qu'un  liomme  qui  a  fait 
sa  cour  a  Votre  Altesse  Royale  ne  peut  vivre  beureux 
ailleurs  ;  qu'elle  me  permette  de  faire  mille  voeux  pour  sa 
sante,  la  nature  lui  a  donne  tout  le  reste.  Mais  a  quoi 
servent  la  beaute,  la  grandeur,  l'esprit  et  les  graces,  quand  le 
corps  souftre  ? 

Que  Son  Altesse  Royale  et  Monseigneur  agreent  le 
profond  respect  et  les  ferventes  prieres  de  frere 

Voltaire. 


le  28  Octobre,  1757. 

Vos  lettres  me  sont  toutes  bien  parvenues. 
L'agitation  de  mon  esprit  a  si  fort  accable  mon  corps,  que  je 
n'ai  pu  vous  repondre  plus  tot.  Je  suis  surprise  que  vous 
soyez  etonne  de  notre  desespoir.  II  faut  que  les  nouvelles 
soient  bien  rares  dans  vos  cantons,  puisque  vous  ignorez  ce 
qui  se  passe  dans  le  monde.  J'avais  dessein  de  vous  faire  une 
relation  detaillee  de  l'enchainement  de  nos  malbeurs.  Je  ne 
vous  la  ferai  que  tres  abregee.  La  bataille  de  Kolin  etait 
deja  gagnee,  et  les  Prussiens  etaient  les  maitres  du  cbamp  de 
bataille,  sur  la  inontagne,  a  l'aile  droite  des  ennemis,  lorsqu'un 
certain   mauvais   genie,    que    vous    n'aimiez  point,   s'avisa, 


168        CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  VOLTAIRE 

contre  les  orclres  expres  qu'il  avait  recus  du  Roi,  d'attaquer 
le  corps  de  bataille  Autrichien  ;  ce  qui  causa  un  grand  inter- 
valle  entre  l'aile  gauche  Prussienne,  qui  etait  vietorieuse,  et 
ce  corps.  II  empecha  aussi  que  cette  aile  f  ut  soutenue.  Le 
Eoi  boucha  le  vide  avec  deux  regiments  de  cavalerie.  Une 
decharge  de  canons  a  cartouches  les  fit  reculer  et  fuir.  Les 
Autrichiens  qui  avaient  eu  le  temps  de  se  reconnaitre, 
tomberent  en  flanc  et  a  dos  sur  les  Prussiens.  Le  Roi, 
malgre  son  habilete  et  ses  peines,  ne  put  remedier  au  desordre. 
II  fut  en  danger  d'etre  pris  ou  tue.  Le  premier  bataillon  des 
gardes  a  pied  lui  donna  temps  de  se  retirer  en  se  jetant 
devant  lui.  II  vit  massacrer  ses  braves  gens,  qui  perirent 
tous,  a  la  reserve  de  deux  cents,  apres  avoir  fait  une  cruelle 
boucherie  des  ennemis.  Le  blocus  de  Prague  fut  leve  le 
lendemain.  Le  Roi  forma  deux  armees.  II  donna  le  com- 
mandement  de  l'une  a  mon  frere  de  Prusse,  et  garda  l'autre. 
II  tira  un  cordon  depuis  Lissa  jusqu'a  Leitmeritz  ou  il  posa 
son  camp.  La  desertion  se  mit  dans  son  armee.  De  pres  de 
trente  mille  Saxons  a  peine  il  en  resta  deux  a  trois  mille. 
Le  Roi  avait  en  face  l'armee  de  Nadasti,  mon  Frere  qui  etait 
a  Lissa,  celle  de  Tawn.  Mon  Frere  tirait  ses  vivres  de  Zittau, 
le  Eoi,  de  Leitmeritz.  Tawn  passa  l'Elbe  et  deroba  line 
marche  au  Prince  de  Prusse.  II  prit  Grabel  ou  etaient  quatre 
bataillons  Prussiens,  et  marcha  a  Zittau.  Le  Prince  decampa 
pour  aller  au  secours  de  cette  ville.  II  perdit  les  equipages 
et  les  pontons,  les  voitures  etant  trop  larges  et  ne  pouvant 
passer  par  les  chemins  etroits  des  montagnes.  II  arriva  a 
temps  pour  sauver  la  garnison  et  une  partie  du  magasin. 
Le  Roi  fut  oblige  de  rentrer  en  Saxe.  Les  deux  armees 
combinees  camperent  a  Bautzen  et  a  Bernstadt,  celle  des 
Autrichiens  entre  Grorlitz  et  Schonau  dans  un  poste  inatta- 
quable.  Le  17  Septembre  le  Roi  marcha  a  l'ennemi  pour 
tacher  de  s'emparer  de  Gorlitz.  Les  deux  armees  en  presence 
se  canonnerent  sans  effet ;  mais  les  Prussiens  parvinrent  a 
leur  but,  et  prirent  Gorlitz.     lis  se  camperent  alors  depuis 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  169 

Bernstadt,  sur  les  hauteurs  de  Javernic,   jusqu'a  la  Neisse, 
ou  le  corps  du  General  Winterfeld  commencait,  s'etendant 
jusqu'a  Radomeritz.     L'armee  du  Prince  de  Soubise,  com- 
binee  avec  celle  de  l'Empire,  s'etait  avancee  jusqu'a  Erfort. 
Elle  pouvait  couper  l'Elbe  en  se  postant  a  Leipsick,  ce  qui 
aurait  rendu  la  position  du  Roi  fort  dangereuse.     II  quitta 
done  l'armee,  dont  il  donna  le  commandement  au  Prince  de 
Bevern,  et  marcha  avec  beaucoup  de  precipitation  et  de  secret 
sur  Erfort.     II  faillit  surprendre  l'armee  de  l'Empire  ;  mais 
ces  troupes  craintives  s'enfuirent  en  desordre  dans  les  denies 
impenetrates  de  la  Thuringe  derriere  Eisenach.     Le  Prince 
de  Soubise,  trop  faible  pour  s'opposer  aux  Prussiens,  s'y  etait 
deja  retire.     Ce  fut  a  Erfort  et  ensuite  a  Naumbourg  ou  le 
destin  dechaina  ses  fleches  empoisonnees  contre  le  Roi.     II 
apprit  l'indigne  traite  conclu  par  le  Due  de  Cumberland,  la 
marche  du  Due  de  Richelieu,  la  mort  et  la  defaite  de  Winter- 
feld, qui  fut  attaque  par  tout  le  corps  de  Nadasti,  consistent 
en  vingt-quatre  mille  hommes,  et  n'en  ayant  que  six  mille 
pour  se  defendre  ;  l'entree  des  Autrichiens  en  Silesie  et  celle 
des  Suedois  dans  l'Ulter-Marc,  ou  ils  semblaient  prendre  la 
route  de  Berlin.     Joignez  a  cela  la  Prusse  depuis  Memmel 
jusqu'a   Konigsberg  reduite  en  un  vaste  desert.     Voila  un 
echantillon   de  nos  infortunes.      Depuis,  les  Autrichiens  se 
sont  avances  jusqu'a  Breslau.     L'habile  conduite  du  Prince 
de  Bevern  les    a    empeches    d'y  mettre  le  siege.    Ils  sont 
presentement  oceupes  a  celui  de  Sehweidnitz.     Un  de  leurs 
partis,  de  quatre  mille  hommes,  a  tire  des  contributions  de 
Berlin  meme.  L'arrivee  duPrince  Maurice  leur  a  fait  vider  le 
pays  du  Roi.    Dans  ce  moment  on  vient  me  dire  que  Leipsiek 
est  bloque  ;  mon  Frere  de  Prusse  y  est  fort  malade  ;  le  Roi 
est  a  Torgau ;  jugez  de  mes  inquietudes  et  de  mes  souffrances; 
a  peine  suis-je  en  etat  de  finir  cette  lettre.     Je  tremble  pour 
le  Roi,  et  qu'il  ne  prenne  quelque  resolution  violente.    Adieu, 
souhaitez-moi  la  mort,  e'est  ce  qui  pourra  m'arriver  de  plus 
heureux. 

WlLHELMINE. 


]70  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

Atjx   D&LICES, 

Aout,  1757. 
Madame, 

Mon  cceur  est  touche  plus  que  jamais  de  la 
bonte  et  de  la  confiance  que  Yotre  Altesse  Royale  daigne  me 
temoigner.  Comment  ne  serais- je  pas  attendri  avec  transport ! 
Je  vois  que  c'est  uniquement  votre  belle  ame  qui  vous  rend 
malheureuse.  Je  me  sens  ne  pour  etre  attache  avec  idolatrie 
a  des  esprits  superieurs  et  sensibles  qui  pensent  comme  vous. 
Youssavez  combien,  dans  le  fond,  j'ai  toujours  ete  attaclie  au 
Roi  votre  frere.  Plus  ma  vieillesse  est  tranquille,  plus  j'ai 
renonce  a  tout,  plus  je  me  fais  une  patrie  de  la  retraite  et  plus 
je  suis  devoue  a  ce  Roi  pliilosophe.  Je  ne  lui  ecris  rien  que  je 
ne  pense  du  fond  de  mon  cceur,  rien  que  je  ne  croie  tres-vrai, 
et,  si  ma  lettre  parait  convenable  a  Yotre  Altesse  Roy  ale,  je 
la  supplie  de  la  proteger  aupres  de  lui  comme  les  precedentes. 

Yotre  Altesse  Royale  trouvera  dans  cette  lettre  des  choses 
qui  se  rapportent  a  ce  qu'elle  a  pense  elle-meme.  Quoique 
les  premieres  insinuations  pour  la  paix  n'aient  pas  reussi,  je 
suis  persuade  qu'elles  peuvent  enfin  avoir  du  succes. 

Permettez  que  j  'ose  vous  communiquer  une  de  mes  idees. 
J'imagine  que  le  marechal  de  Richelieu  serait  flatte  qu'on 
s'adressat  a  lui.  Je  crois  qu'il  pense  qu'il  est  necessaire  de 
tenir  une  balance  et  qu'il  serait  fort  aise  que  l'interet  du  Roi 
son  maitre  s'accordat  avec  l'interet  de  ses  allies  et  avec  les 
votres.  Si,  dans  l'occasion,  vous  vouliez  le  faire  sonder,  cela 
ne  serait  pas  difficile. 

Personne  ne  serait  plus  propre  que  M.  de  Richelieu  a 
prendre  un  tel  ministere.  Je  ne  prends  la  liberte  d'en  parler, 
Madame,  que  dans  la  supposition  que  le  Roi  votre  frere  fut 
oblige  de  prendre  ce  parti,  et  j'ose  vous  dire  qu'en  ce  cas  il 
vous  aurait  beaucoup  d'obligation,  quand  cette  idee,  non  pas 
comme  une  proposition,  encore  moins  comme  un  conseil,  il  ne 
m'appartient  pas  d'oser  en  donner,  mais  comme  un  simple 
souhait  qui  n'a  sa  source  que  dans  mon  zele. 

YOLTAIRE. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  171 


le  19  Auguste,  1757. 

On  ne  connait  ses  amis  que  dans  le  malheur.  La  lettre 
que  vous  m'avez  ecrite  fait  bien  honneur  a  votre  facon  de 
penser.  Je  ne  saurais  vous  temoigner  combien  je  suis 
sensible  a  votre  procede.  Le  Roi  Test  autant  que  moi. 
Vous  trouverez  ci- joint  un  billet  qu'il  m'a  ordonne  de  vous 
remettre.  Ce  grand  homme  est  toujours  de  meme.  II 
soutient  les  infortunes  avee  un  courage  et  une  fermete  dignes 
de  lui.  II  n'a  pu  transcrire  la  lettre  qu'il  vous  ecrivait. 
Elle  commencait  par  des  vers.  Au  lieu  d'y  jeter  du  sable,  il 
a  pris  Fencrier,  ee  qui  est  cause  qu'elle  est  coupee.  Je  suis 
dans  un  etat  affreux,  et  ne  survivrai  pas  a  la  destruction  de 
ma  maison  et  de  ma  famille.  C'est  l'unique  consolation  qui 
me  reste.  Vous  aurez  de  beaux  sujets  de  tragedies  a 
travailler.  0  temps !  0  moeurs !  Vous  ferez  peut-etre 
verser  des  larmes  par  une  representation  illusoire,  tandis 
qu'on  contemple  d'un  ceil  sec  les  malheurs  de  toute  une 
maison,  contre  laquelle,  dans  le  fond,  on  n'a  aucune  plainte 
reelle.  Je  ne  puis  vous  en  dire  davantage ;  mon  ame  est  si 
troublee  que  je  ne  sais  ce  que  je  fais.  Mais  quoiqu'il  puisse 
arriver,  soyez  persuade  que  je  suis  plus  que  jamais  votre 
amie. 

WlLHELMINE. 


Attx  Deuces, 

29  Aout,  1757 

Madame, 

J'ai  ete  touche  jusqu'aux  larmes  de  la  lettre 
dont  Votre  Altesse  Royale  m'a  honore.  Je  vous  demanderais 
la  permission  de  venir  me  mettre  a  vos  pieds,  si  je  pouvais 
quitter  cette  niece  infortunee,  et  j'ose  dire  respectable,  qui 
m'a  suivie  dans  ma  retraite,  et  qui  a  tout  abandonne  pour  moi. 
Mais,  dans  mon  obscurite,  je  n'ai  pas  perdu  un  moment  de 


172  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

vue  Votre  Altesse  Roy  ale  et  son  auguste  maison.  Votre 
coeur  genereux,  Madame,  est  a  de  rudes  epreuves.  Ce  qui 
s'est  passe  en  Suede,  ce  qui  arrive  en  Allemagne,  exerce  votre 
sensibilite.  II  est  a.  presumer,  Madame,  que  Forage  ne 
s'etendra  pas  a  vos  Etats,  mais  votre  ame  en  ressent  toutes  les 
secousses,  et  c'est  par  le  cceur  seul  que  vous  pouvez  etre  mal- 
heureuse.  Puissent  de  si  justes  alarmes  ne  pas  alterer  votre 
sante  !  C'est  sans  doute  que  vous  representent  mieux  que 
moi  ceux  qui  sont  attaches  a  Votre  Altesse  Royale.  II  est 
bien  a  souhaiter  pour  elle,  pour  l'Allemagne  et  pour  l'Europe, 
qu'une  bonne  paix  fondee  sur  tous  les  anciens  traites  finisse 
tant  de  troubles  et  de  malheurs.  Mais  il  ne  me  parait  pas  que 
cette  paix  soit  si  prochaine. 

Dans  ces  circonstances,  Madame,  me  sera-t-il  permis  de 
mettre  sous  votre  protection  cette  lettre  que  j'ose  ecrire  a  Sa 
Majeste  le  Roi  votre  frere  ?  Votre  Altesse  Royale  la  lui  fera 
tenir  si  elle  le  juge  convenable.  Elle  y  verra  du  moins  mes 
sentiments  et  je  suis  sur  qu'elle  les  approuvera.  Au  reste,  je 
ne  croirai  jamais  les  choses  desesperes  tant  que  le  Roi  aura  une 
arniee.  II  a  souvent  vaincu,  il  peut  vaincre  encore.  Mais  si 
le  temps  et  le  nombre  de  ses  ennemis  ne  lui  laissent  que  son 
courage,  ce  courage  sera  respecte  de  l'Europe.  Le  Roi,  votre 
frere,  sera  toujours  grand,  et,  s'il  eprouve  des  malheurs 
comme  tant  d'autres  princes,  il  aura  une  nouvelle  sorte  de 
gloire.  Je  voudrais  qu'il  fut  persuade  de  son  merite 
personnel,  il  est  au  point  que  beaucoup  de  personnes  de  tout 
rang  le  respectent  plus  comme  homme  que  comme  roi.  Qui 
doit  sentir  mieux  que  vous,  Madame,  ce  que  c'est  que  d'etre 
superieur  a,  sa  naissance  !  Je  serais  trop  long  si  je  disais  ce 
que  je  pense  et  tout  ce  que  mon  tendre  respect  m'inspire. 
Daignez  lire  dans  le  cceur  de  frere 

Voltaire. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  173 


le  12  Septembre,  1757. 
Yotre   lettre   m'a    sensiblement   touchee ;  celle   que   vous 
m'avez  adressee  pour  le  Eoi  a  fait  le  meme  effet  sur  lui. 
J'espere  que  vous  serez  satisfait  de  la  reponse  pour  ce  qui 
vous  concerne  ;  mais  vous  le  serez  aussi  peu  que  moi  de  ses 
resolutions.     Je   m'etais  flattee  que  vos  reflexions  feraient 
quelque  impression  sur  son  esprit.     Vous  venez  le  contraire 
dans  le  billet  ci-joint.     II  ne  me  reste  qu'a  suivre  sa  destinee, 
si  elle  est  malheureuse.     Je  ne  me  suis  jamais  piquee  d'etre 
philosophe.     J'ai  fait  mes  efforts  pour  le  devenir.     Le  peu 
de  progres  que  j'ai  fait  m'a  appris  amepriser  les  grandeurs  et 
les  richesses  ;  mais  je  n'ai  rien  trouve  dans  la  philosophie  qui 
puisse  guerir  les  plaies  du  cosur,  que  le  moyen  de  s'affranchir 
de  ses  maux  en  cessant  de  vivre.     L'etat  ou  je  suis  est  pire 
que  la  mort.     Je  vois  le  plus  grand  homme  du  siecle,  mon 
frere,  mon  ami,  reduit  a  la  plus  affreuse  extremite.     Je  vois 
ma  f  amille  entiere  exposee  aux  dangers  et  aux  perils ;  ma 
patrie  decniree  par  d'impitoyables  ennemis ;  le  pays  ou  je 
suis,  peut-etre  menace  de  pareils  malheurs.     Plut  au  ciel  que 
je  fusse  chargee  toute  seule  des  maux  que  je  viens  de  vous 
decrire.     Je  les  soufrrirais,  et  avec  fermete. 

Pardonnez-moi  ce  detail.  Vous  m'engagez,  par  la  part 
que  vous  prenez,  a  ce  qui  me  regarde,  de  vous  ouvrir  mon 
coeur.  Helas !  l'espoir  en  est  presque  banni.  La  fortune 
lorsqu'elle  change,  est  aussi  constante  dans  ses  persecutions 
que  dans  ses  faveurs.  L'histoire  est  pleine  de  ces  exemples  ; 
mais  je  n'y  en  ai  point  trouve  de  pareils  a  celui  que  nous 
voyons,  ni  une  guerre  aussi  inhumaine  et  cruelle,  parmi  des 
peuples  polices.  Vous  gemiriez  si  vous  saviez  la  triste  situa- 
tion de  l'Allemagne  et  de  la  Prusse.  Les  cruautes  que  les 
Russes  commettent  dans  cette  derniere  font  fremir  la  nature. 
Que  vous  etes  heureux  dans  votre  hermitage,  ou  vous  vous 
reposez  sur  vos  lauriers,  et  ou  vous  pouvez  philosopher  de 
sang  froid  sur  Pegarement  des  hommes  !  Je  vous  y  souhaite 
tout  le  bonheur  imaginable.      Si  la  fortune  nous  favorise 


174  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN   VOLTAIRE 


encore,  comptez  sur  toute  ma  reconnaissance  ;  et  je  n'oublierai 
jamais  les  marques  d'attachement  que  vous  m'avez  donnees  : 
ma  sensibilite  vous  en  est  garant ;  je  ne  suis  jamais  amie  a 
demi,  et  je  le  serai  toujours  veritablement  de  frere  Voltaire. 

WlLHELMINE. 

Bien  des  compliments  a  Madame  Denis  ;  continuez,  je  vous 
prie,  d'ecrire  au  Roi. 

le  16  Octobre,  1757. 

Accablee  par  les  maux  de  l'esprit  et  du  corps,  je  ne  puis 
vous  ecrire  qu'une  petite  lettre.  Vous  en  trouverez  une 
ci-jointe,  qui  vous  recompensera  au  centuple  de  ma  brievete. 
Notre  situation  est  toujours  la  meme.  Un  tombeau  fait 
notre  point  de  vue.  Quoique  tout  semble  perdu,  il  nous 
reste  des  choses  qu'on  ne  pourra  nous  enlever :  c'est  la 
fermete  et  les  sentiments  du  cceur.  Soyez  persuade  de  notre 
reconnaissance,  et  de  tous  les  sentiments  que  vous  meritez  par 
votre  attacbement  et  votre  facon  de  penser,  digne  d'un  vrai 
philosophe. 

WlLHELMINE. 

le  23  Novembre. 

Mon  corps  a  succombe  sous  les  agitations  de 
mon  esprit,  ce  qui  m'a  empeche  de  vous  repondre.  Je  vous 
entretiendrai  aujourd'hui  de  nouvelles  bien  plus  interessantes 
que  celles  de  mon  individu.  Je  vous  avais  mande  que  l'armee 
des  allies  bloquait  Leipsick  ;  je  continue  ma  narration.  Le 
26  le  Roi  se  jeta  dans  la  ville  avec  un  corps  de  dix  mille 
liommes  ;  le  Marecbal  Keit  y  etait  deja  entre  avec  un  pareil 
nombre  de  troupes  ;  il  y  eut  une  vive  escarmouche  entre  les 
Autriehiens,  ceux  de  l'Empire  et  les  Prussiens :  les  derniers 
remj)orterent  tout  l'avantage  et  prirent  cinq  cents  Autriehiens. 
L'armee  alliee  se  retira  a  Mersebourg  ;  elle  brula  le  pont  de 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE    OF    BAIREUTH.  175 


cette  ville  et  celui  de  Weissenfeld  ;  celui  de  Halle  avait  deja 
ete  detruit.  On  pretend  que  cette  subite  retraite  fut  causee 
par  les  vives  representations  de  la  Eeine  de  Pologne,  qui 
previt,  avec  raison,  la  ruine  totale  de  Leipsick,  si  on  con- 
tinuait  a  l'assieger.  Le  projet  des  Francais  etait  de  se  rendre 
maitres  de  la  Sale.  Le  Roi  marcha  sur  Mersebourg,  ou  il 
tomba  sur  1'arriere-garcle  Francaise,  s'empara  de  la  ville,  ou 
il  fit  cinq  cents  prisonniers Francais.  Les  Autrichiens,  pris  a 
l'escarmouche  devant  Leipsick,  avaient  ete  enfermes  dans  un 
vieux  chateau  sur  les  murs  de  la  ville.  lis  furent  obliges  de 
ceder  leur  gite  aux  cinq  cents  Francais,  parce  qu'il  etait  plus 
commode,  et  on  les  mit  dans  la  maison  de  correction.  C'est 
pour  vous  marquer  les  attentions  qu'on  a  pour  votre  nation 
que  je  vous  fais  part  de  ces  bagatelles.  Le  Marechal  Keit 
marcha  a  Halle  ou  il  retablit  le  pont.  Le  Roi  n'ayant  point 
de  pontons,  se  servit  de  treteaux  sur  lesquels  on  assura  des 
planches,  et  releva  de  cette  facon  les  deux  ponts  de  Mersebourg 
et  de  "Weissenfeld.  Le  corps  qu'il  commandait  se  reunit  a 
celui  du  Marechal  Keith  a  Bornerode.  Le  dernier  avait  tire 
a  lui  huit  mille  hommes,  commanded  par  le  Prince  Ferdinand 
de  Brunswick.  On  alia  reconnaitre,  le  4,  l'ennemi  campe  sur 
la  hauteur  de  Saint-Micheln  ;  le  poste  n'etant  pas  attaquable, 
le  Roi  fit  dresser  le  camp  a  Rosbac,  dans  une  plaine.  II  avait 
une  colline  a  dos,  dont  la  pente  etait  fort  douce.  Le  5,  tandis 
que  le  Roi  dinait  tranquillement  avec  ses  generaux,  deux 
patrouilles  vinrent  l'avertir  que  les  ennemis  faisaient  un 
mouvement  sur  leur  gauche.  Le  Roi  se  leva  de  table  ;  on 
rappela  la  cavalerie  qui  etait  au  fourrage ;  et  on  resta  tran- 
quille,  croyant  que  l'ennemi  marchait  a  Freibourg,  petite  ville 
qu'il  avait  a  dos ;  mais  on  s'apercut  qu'il  tirait  sur  le  flanc 
gauche  des  Prussiens.  Sur  quoi  le  Roi  fit  lever  le  camp,  et 
defila  par  la  gauche  sur  cette  colline,  ce  qui  se  fit  au  galop, 
tant  pour  l'inf anterie  que  pour  la  cavalerie.  Cette  manoeuvre, 
selon  toute  apparence,  a  ete  faite  pour  donner  le  change  aux 
Francais.    Aussitot,  comme  par  un  coup  de  sifflet,  cette  armee 


176  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

en  confusion  fut  rangee  en  ordre  de  bataille  sur  une  ligne. 
Alors  l'artillerie  fit  un  feu  si  terrible  que  des  Francais, 
auxquels  j'ai  parle,  disent  que  chaque  coup  tuait  ou  blessait 
huit  ou  neuf  personnes.  La  mousqueterie  ne  fit  pas  moins 
d'effet.  Les  Francais  avancaient  toujours  en  colonne  pour 
attaquer  avec  la  baionnette.  lis  n'etaient  plus  qu'a  cent  pas 
des  Prussiens  lorsque  la  cavalerie  Prussienne,  prenant  un 
detour  vint  tornber  en  flanc  sur  la  leur  avec  une  furie  in- 
croyable.  Les  Francais  furent  culbutes  et  mis  en  fuite. 
L'infanterie,  attaquee  en  flanc,  foudroyee  par  les  canons,  et 
chargee  par  six  bataillons  et  le  regiment  des  gendarmes,  fut 
taillee  en  pieces  et  entitlement  dispersee. 

Le  Prince  Henri,  qui  commandait  a  la  droite  du  Roi,  a  eu 
la  plus  grande  part  a  cette  victoire,  ou  il  a  recu  une  legere 
blessure.  La  perte  des  Francais  est  tres  grande.  Outre  cinq 
mille  prisonniers  et  plus  de  trois  cents  officiers  pris  dans  cette 
bataille,  ils  out  perdu  presque  toute  l'artillerie.  Au  reste,  je 
vous  mande  ce  que  j'ai  appris  de  la  bouche  des  fuyards  et  de 
quelques  rapports  d'officiers  Prussiens.  Le  Roi  n'a  eu  que  le 
temps  de  me  notifier  sa  victoire,  et  n'a  pu  m'envoyer  la 
relation.  Le  Roi  distingue  et  soigne  les  officiers  Francais, 
comme  il  pourrait  faire  les  siens  propres.  II  a  fait  panser 
les  blesses  en  sa  presence,  et  a  donne  les  ordres  les  plus  precis 
pour  qu'on  ne  leur  laisse  manquer  de  rien.  Apres  avoir 
poursuivi  l'ennemi  jusqu'a  Spielberg,  il  estretourne  aLeipsick, 
d'ou  il  est  reparti  le  10  pour  marcher  a  Torgau.  Le  General - 
Marechal  des  Autricbiens  faisant  mine  d'entrer  dans  leBrande- 
bourg  avec  treize  ou  quatorze  mille  bommes,  a  l'approche  des 
Prussiens,  ce  corps  a  retrograde  a  Bautzen  en  Lusace.  Le 
Roi  le  poursuit  pour  l'attaquer  s'il  le  peut.  Son  dessein  est 
d'entrer  ensuite  en  Silesie.  Malheureusement  nous  avons 
appris  aujourd'hui  la  reddition  de  Schweidnitz,  qui  s'est 
rendu  le  13  apres  avoir  soutenu  l'assaut,  ce  qui  me  rejette 
dans  les  plus  violentes  inquietudes.  Pour  repondre  aux 
articles  de  vos  deux  lettres,  je  vous  dirai  que  la  surdite  devient 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  177 

un  mal  ^pidemique  en  France.  Si  j'osais,  j'ajouterais  qu'on  y 
joint  l'aveuglement.  Je  pourrais  vous  dire  bien  des  choses 
de  boucheque  je  ne  puis  confier  a  la  plume,  par  ou  vous  serez 
convaincu  des  bonnes  intentions  qu'on  a  eues.  On  les  a  encore. 
J'ecrirai  au  premier  jour  au  Cardinal.*  Assurez-le,  je  vous 
prie,  de  toute  mon  estime,  et  dites-lui  que  je  persiste  tou jours 
dans  mon  systeme  de  Lyon,  mais  que  je  souhaiterai  beaucoup 
que  bien  des  gens  eussent  sa  facon  de  penser,  qu'en  ce  cas 
nous  serious  bientot  d'accord.  Je  suis  bien  folle  de  me  meler 
de  politiquer.  Mon  esprit  n'est  plus  bon  qu'a  etre  mis  a 
I'hopital.  Vous  me  faites  faire  des  efforts  tant  d'esprit  que 
de  corps,  pour  ecrire  une  si  longue  lettre.  Je  ne  puis  vous 
procurer  que  le  plaisir  des  relations.  II  faut  bien  que  j'en 
profite,  ne  pouvant  vous  en  procurer  de  plus  grands,  et  tels 
que  ma  reconnaissance  les  desire.  Bien  des  compliments  a 
Madame  Denis,  et  comptez  que  vous  n'avez  de  meilleure  amie 
que 

WlLHELMINE. 


le  27  Decembre,  1757. 

Si  mon  corps  voulait  se  preter  aux  insinuations 
de  mon  esprit,  vous  recevriez  toutes  les  postes  de  mes  nouvelles. 
Je  suis,  me  direz-vous,  aussi  cacochyme  que  vous,  et  cependant 
j'ecris.  A  cela,  je  vous  reponds,  qu'il  n'y  a  qu'un  Voltaire 
dans  le  monde,  et  qu'il  ne  doit  pas  juger  d'autrui  par  lui- 
raeme.  Voila  bien  du  bavardage.  Je  vois  votre  impatience  a 
apprendre  les  choses  qui  vous  interessent.  Une  bataille 
gagnee;  Breslau  au  pouvoir  du  Roi ;  trente-trois  milleprison- 
niers,  sept  cents  officiers  et  quatorze  generaux  de  pris,  outre 
cent  cinquante  canons,  et  quatre  mille  chariots,  de  vivres,  de 
bagages  et  de  munitions,  sont  des  nouvelles  que  je  puis  vous 


De  Tencin. 

N 


178  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

doimer.  Je  n'ai  pas  fini.  II  est  reste  quatre  mille  morts  sto- 
le champ  de  bataille,  quatre  mille  blesses  se  sont  trouves  a 
Breslau,  et  on  compte  quatre  mille  cinq  cents  deserteurs. 
Vous  pouvez  compter  que  c'est  un  fait,  non-seulement  avert*. 
par  le  Koi  et  toute  l'armee,  mais  meme  par  une  foule  de 
deserteurs  Autrichiens  qui  ont  ete  ici.  Les  Prussiens  ont  cinq 
cents  morts,  et  trois  mille  blesses.  Cette  action  est  unique  et 
parait  fabuleuse.  Les  Autrichiens  etaient  fort  de  quatre- 
vingt  mille  hommes,  les  Prussiens  n'en  avaient  que  trente-six 
mille.  La  victoire  a  ete  disputee ;  mais  toute  l'affaire  n'a 
dure  que  quatre  heures.  Je  ne  me  sens  pas  de  joie  de  ce 
prodigieux  changement  de  fortune.  Je  dois  a j outer  encore 
une  anecdote.  Le  corps  que  commandait  le  Roi,  avait  fait 
quarante-deux  milles  d'Allemagne  en  quinze  jours  de  temps, 
et  n'avait  eu  qu'un  jour  pour  se  reposer  avant  de  livrer  cette 
bataille  memorable.  Le  Roi  peut  dire  comme  Cesar :  "  Je 
suis  venu,  j'ai  vu,  j'ai  vaincu."  II  me  mande  qu'il  n'est 
embarrasse  a  present  que  de  nourrir  et  de  placer  ce  prodigieux 
nombre  de  prisonniers.  La  lettre  que  vous  lui  avez  ecrite, 
ou  vous  lui  demandez  la  relation  de  la  bataille  de  Mersebourg, 
a  £te  enlevee  avec  la  mienne.  Heureusement  il  n'y  avait  rien 
qui  puisse  vous  faire  du  tort.  Je  vous  adresse  la  lettre  ci-jointe 
pour  le  chapeau  rouge*  Pour  des  coquineries,  il  n'y  en  a 
point,  pour  des  douceurs,  je  n'en  reponds  pas. 

Nous  avons  eu,  il  y  a  trois  jours,  trois  secousses  d'un  trem- 
blement  de  terre  a  quatre  milles  d'ici.  On  dit  que  la 
premiere  etait  forte,  et  qu'on  a  entendu  des  bruits  souterrains. 
II  n'a  cause  aucun  dommage.  On  n'a  point  d'exemple 
d'un  pareil  phenomene  dans  ce  pays ;  je  vous  laisse  le  soin 
d'en  trouver  la  raison.  Bien  des  compliments  a  Madame 
Denis.     Soyez  persuade  de  toute  mon  estime. 

WlLHELMINE. 


Le  Cardinal  de  Tencin. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  179 


le  2  Janvier,  1758. 

Car,  grace  au  ciel,  nous  avons  fini  la  plus 
fuueste  des  annees.  Vous  me  dites  tant  de  choses  obligeantes 
sur  celle  qui  court,  que  c'est  un  sujet  de  reconnaissance  de 
plus  pour  moi.  Je  vous  souhaite  tout  ce  qui  peut  vous  rendre 
parfaitement  heureux.  Pour  ce  qui  ine  regarde,  j'abandonne 
mon  sort  a  la  destinee.  On  forme  souvent  des  vceux  qui  nous 
seraient  prejudiciables  s'ils  s'accomplissaient,  aussi  n'en  fais- 
je  plus.  Si  quelque  chose  au  monde  peut  contenter  mes 
desirs,  c'est  la  paix.  Je  pense  comme  vous  sur  la  guerre ; 
nous  avons  un  tiers  qui  pense  certainement  comme  nous. 
Mais  peut-on  toujours  suivre  sa  facon  de  penser  ?  Ne  faut-il 
pas  se  soumettre  a  bien  des  prejuges  etablis  depuis  que  le 
monde  existe  ?  L'homme  court  apres  le  clinquant  de  la 
reputation,  chacun  la  cherche  dans  son  metier  et  dans  ses 
talents ;  on  veut  s'immortaliser.  Ne  faut-il  pas  chercher 
cette  gloire  chimerique  dans  les  id^es  vraies  ou  f ausses  que 
l'esprit  de  l'homme  s'en  fait  ?  Democrite  avait  bien  raison 
de  rire  de  la  folie  humaine. 

Je  vois  une  hypocrite,  d'un  cote,  courant  les  processions 
et  implorant  les  saints,  occupee  a  brouiller  toute  l'Europe, 
et  a  la  priver  de  ses  habitants.  Je  vois  de  1'autre 
cote,  un  philosophe  (quoiqu'avec  regret)  faire  couler  des 
flots  de  sang  humain.  Je  vois  un  peuple  avare,  conjure 
a  la  perte  des  mortels  pour  accumuler  ses  richesses.  Mais 
baste,  je  pourrais  trop  voir,  et  cela  n'est  pas  necessaire. 
II  faut  vous  contenter  pour  cette  fois  de  mon  verbiage  et 
de  mes  reflexions,  car  je  n'ai  point  de  nouvelles  depuis  la 
derniere  lettre  que  vous  avez  recue  de  moi.  Ce  que  vous 
me  proposez  est  un  peu  scabreux  ;  je  m'explique  sur  ce 
sujet  dans  la  lettre  que  je  vous  adresse.  J'en  reviens  a  ma 
vieille  phrase,  que  l'on  est  sourd  dans  votre  patrie.  Si  je 
pouvais  vous  parler  vous  jugeriez  peut-etre  differemment  que 
vous  ne  le  faites.     Le  lloi  est  dans  le  cas  d'Orphee,  si  sa 

n  2 


180  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

bonne  fortune  ne  le  tire  d'affaire.  II  souhaite  la  paix,  mais 
il  y  a  bien  des  mais.  Si  elle  ne  se  fait  avant  le  printemps 
toute  l'Allemagne  sera  ruinee  et  desolee.  L'etat  oii  elle  se 
trouve  deja  est  affreux.  Quelque  conduite  sage  qu'on  tienne, 
on  ne  peut  se  mettre  a  l'abri  des  violences  et  du  pillage.  Je 
ne  finirais  point  si  je  vous  faisais  un  detail  des  malheurs  qui 
l'accablent.  C'est  une  honte,  que  dans  un  siecle  police  on  en 
agisse  avec  tant  de  cruaute.  Le  Roi  n'en  souffre  point. 
Malgre  tout  ce  qu'on  en  dit,  le  peuple  Saxon  l'aime,  mais  la 
noblesse  le  hait,  parce  qu'elle  est  privee  des  pensions  et  des 
appointements  qu'elle  retirait.  On  debite  contre  lui  des 
calomnies  atroces.  Peut-on  y  aj  outer  foi  ?  Elles  viennent 
de  ses  ennemis.  L'envie  a  persecute  tous  les  grands  homines; 
il  faut  y  joindre  l'animosite.     Que  n'est-on  sourd  quand  elle 

lance  ses  traits  empoisonnes Encore   une   fois,    il 

faut  que  je  finisse,  car  je  m'apercois  que  je  bavarde  trop. 
Soyez  persuade  de  toute  mon  estime,  et  que  je  serai  toute  ma 
vie,  la  veritable  amie  du  Frere  Suisse. 

WlLHELMlNE. 


AND   THE    MARGRAVINE   OF    BAIREUTH.  181 


II. 

LETTRE  DES  PANDOURES  AU  FRERE  SUISSE. 

Pourquoi  nous  nommez-vous  vilains  ?  Nous  pillons,  nous 
saccageons,  et  sommes  larrons  privilegies,  cela  est  vrai. 
Sommes-nous  en  cela  plus  condamnables  que  ceux  qui 
gouvernent  le  monde,  que  les  auteurs  qui  derobent  les  pensees 
d'autrui,  et  que  les  saints  du  paradis,  qui  pour  fonder  des 
eglises  et  des  couvents  s'appropriaient  les  biens  du  peuple  et 
des  particuliers  ?  non  assurement.  Rendez-nous  done  plus  de 
justice,  et  soubaitez,  au  lieu  de  nous  injurier,  que  les 
souverains  de  l'Europe  suivent  a  l'avenir  notre  exemple,  qu'ils 
deviennent  aussi  avides  que  nous  de  posseder  vos  lettres, 
qu'ils  apprennent  par  leur  lecture  a  devenir  pbilosopbes,  et 
pandoures  de  la  vertu.  Si  jamais  nous  avons  le  bonbeur  de 
vous  attraper,  nous  tacberons  de  piller  votre  esprit  et  vos 
connaissances,  pour  nous  venger  de  votre  mepris.  Nos 
Rossinantes  seront  alors  metamorpboses  en  Pegasses,  et 
nous  saurous  bien  avec  le  secours  d'une  certaine  dame,  qui  se 
nomme  Raison,  vous  empecber  de  faire  des  neuvaines  contre 
nous.     Adieu. 

P.S. — J'ai  recu  toutes  vos  lettres,  et  j'y  reponds  a  la  fois. 
Le  plan  de  la  comedie  Italienne  n'est  pas  tout-a-fait  assez 
juste.  Mais  il  me  sierait  mal  de  vouloir  critiquer  vos 
ouvrages.  La  sceur  de  Mezetin  n'ose  se  meler  que  de  ce  qui 
la  regarde,  et  d'ailleurs  il  est  bien  dangereux  d'entreprendre 
de  jouer  la  comedie,  puisqu'on  risque  d'etre  enleve  par  les 
pandoures  ou  que  les  roles  ne  soient  intercepted.  II  y  a  plus 
de  quatre  semaines  que  je  n'ai  aucunes  nouvelles  du   Roi. 


182  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE 

II  se  peut  qu'il  m'ait  ecrit,  ce  que  je  crois  tres  surement ; 
mais  je  pense  que  ses  lettres  ont  peut-etre  pris  des  routes  qui 
ne  conduisent  pas  ici.  On  dit  que  les  Francais  out  recu 
un  petit  echec  a  Bremen,  et  qu'il  y  a  eu  sept  mille  kommes 
de  battus.  Les  Suedois  sont  au  pis  en  Pomeranie.  Leur 
cavalerie  s'est  retiree  dans  Pile  de  Rugen.  L'infanterie  est 
a  Stralsund  ou  on  les  a  bloques,  et  ou  l'on  va  les  bombarder. 
Voila.  tout  ce  que  je  sais.  Mon  frere  de  Prusse  m'a  adresse 
cette  lettre  pour  vous.  Vous  pouvez  voir  par  la  date  com- 
bien  les  lettres  arrivent  regulierement  iei.     Je  plains  votre 

aveuglement  de  ne  croire  qu'un  Dieu,  et  de  renier  J 

Comment  ferez-vous  pour  plaider  votre  cause  ?  Si  quelque 
chose  pouvait  me  divertir  encore,  se  serait  de  voir  votre 
apologie.  Adieu,  donnez-moi  je  vous  prie  de  vos  nouvelles, 
et  surtout  de  celles  de  mon  amant.  Yeuille  le  ciel  qu'elles 
soient  bonnes ! 

WlLHELMINE. 

J'ai  oublie  de  vous  dire  que  c'est  moi  qui  suis  la  pandoure. 
Je  me  suis  meprise,  et  j'ai  envoye  un  papier  blanc  au  Roi, 
au  lieu  de  votre  lettre  que  j'ai  retrouvee.  Je  l'ai  fait  re'partir. 
Si  elle  arrive  a  bon  port,  vous  aurez  bientot  reponse. 


Monsir, 

J'ai  bien  recu  la  gracieuse  lettre  que  vous  avez 
ecrite  a  moi  Suisse,  concernant  la  paix  generale  ou  faite  ou 
prete  a  faire  sous  la  mediation  de  son  Excellence  de  Spada. 
J'ai  eu  une  satisfaction  grande  que  l'on  commencerait  par 
pendre  plusieurs  ministres,  mais  je  voudrais  un  peu  plus  de 
particularity,  par  exemple  savoir  si  on  les  pendra  quatre  a 
quatre  ou  six  a,  six.  Je  suis  grandement  ebaki,  Monsir,  de 
S.  M.  le  Poi  qui  court  la  pretentaine,  et  qui  rosse  trois 
grandes  nations  l'une  apres  1' autre.  J'ai  ecrit  a"  un  savant 
benedictin  mon  cousin  issu  de  germain  pour  qu'il  lui  plaise 


AND   THE   MARGRAVINE  OF    BAIREUTH.  183 

de  chercher  dans  tous  ses  livres  s'il  y  a  mention  par  kasard 
d'un  pareil  homme  que  S.  M.  le  Eoi  et  j 'attends  sa  reponse. 
Je  croyais  avoir  approche  (sont  a,  present  cinq  ans  passes)  de 
lui  grand  homme,  mais  ce  n'etait  pas  celui-la,  car  vous 
saurez  que  celui  que  j'ai  vu  avait  un  visage  doux,  et  des 
grands  yeux  bleus,  et  qu'il  avait  un  esprit  fort  agreable, 
tres  agreable,  mon  bon  Monsir,  et  qu'il  disait  des  bons  mots, 
et  qu'il  faisait  les  plus  jolies  choses  du  monde,  tant  en  prose 
qu'en  vers,  et  qu'il  etait  bien  philosophe.  Oh !  c'est  celui- 
la  que  jeregrettrai  touj ours,  car  je  le  suis  aussi,  moi,  mais  par 
intervalles,  et  j'aime  beaucoup  un  grand  Roi  et  qui  est  tout 
comme  un  homme.  Je  crois,  Dieu  me  pardonne,  mon  bon 
Monsir,  que  j'irais  le  voir  quand  il  sera  de  loisir,  car  je  suis 
curieux  des  grandes  rarites,  mais  je  suis  si  vieux — -si  vieux, 
mon  bon  Monsir,  et  lui  si  grandement  grand  que  je  n'aurai 
jamais  la  force  d'aller  la. 

Nous  faisons  tous  les  jours  des  prieres  pour  sa  sainte 
conservation  dans  nos  saintes  Eglises.  Tous  nos  freres  vous 
donnent  le  baiser  de  paix. 


Atjx  Delices, 

27  Septembre,  1758. 

Madame, 

Si  ce  billet  trouvait  Yotre  Altesse  Royale  dans 
un  moment  de  sante  et  de  loisir,  je  la  supplierais  de  faire 
envoyer  au  grand  homme  son  frere  cette  reponse  du  Suisse ; 
mais  mon  soin  le  plus  presse  est  de  la  supplier  d'envoyer  a 
Tronchin  un  detail  de  sa  maladie. 

Yous  n'avez  jamais  eu,  Madame,  tant  de  raisons  d'aimer 
la  vie.  Yous  ne  savez  pas  combien  cette  vie  est  chere  a,  tous 
ceux  qui  ont  le  bonheur  d'approcher  Yotre  Altesse  Royale. 
Comptez  que  s'il  est  quelqu'un  sur  la  terre  capable  de  vous 
donner  du  soulagement  et  de  prolonger  des  jours  si  precieux, 


184  CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    VOLTAIRE,    &V. 

c'est  Tronohin.  Au  nom  de  tous  les  etres  pensants,  Madame, 
ne  negligez  pas  de  le  consulter ;  et  s'il  etait  necessaire  qu'il 
se  rendit  aupres  de  votre  personne,  ou  si,  ne  pouvant  pas  y 
venir,  il  jugeait  que  vous  pouviez  entreprendre  le  voyage,  il 
n'y  aurait  pas  un  moment  a  perdre ;  il  faut  vivre,  tout  le 
reste  n'est  rien.  Je  suis  penetre  de  douleur  et  d'inquietude, 
ces  sentiments  l'emportent  encore  sur  le  profond  respect  et  le 
tendre  attachement  du  vieux  frere  ermite  Suisse 

VOLTAIEE. 

J'espere  que  Monseigneur  sera  de  mon  avis. 


Henderson,  Bait,  &.  Spalding,  General  Printers,  3  Sc  5,  Marylelwne  Lane,  London,  W. 


HER  ROYAL  HIGHNESS  PRINCESS  CHRISTIAN. 


Now  Ready,   Demy  8vo,  cloth.      Price  12s. 

MEMOIRS  OF  WILHELMINE, 

MARGRAVINE  OF  BAIREUTH, 

TRANSLATED    AND    EDITED    BY 

HER  EOYAL  HIGHNESS  PRINCESS  CHRISTIAN  OF 
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 

WITH     PORTRAIT    OF    THE    MARGRAVINE. 


OPINIONS   OF   THE    PRESS. 

"The    Times." 

"  We  welcome  this  admirable  translation  as  most  interesting  reading.  The  Margravine  wrote 
her  Memoirs  in  a  plain-spoken  age,  when  gross  court  scandals  were  circulated  in  undisguised 
coarseness.  She  had  strong  feelings,  strong  prejudices,  and  a  calmer  temperament  might  well 
have  been  provoked  by  the  grievances  of  which  she  was  the  victim,  and  the  troubles  of  her 
chequered  existence." 

"The  Saturday  Review." 

"  The  Princess  Christian  has  at  least  paid  the  general  reader  a  handsome  compliment  by- 
translating  the  Memoirs  of  the  Margravine  of  Baireuth  for  his  benefit.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  any  one  who  has  a  real  interest  in  the  history  of  the  eighteenth  century,  or  in  memoir 
literature  at  large,  can  be  so  ignorant  of  the  French  language  as  to  require  an  English  version 
of  Wilhelmine's  delightful  book.  Therefore  it  must  be  meant  for  the  reader  of  English  only 
who  has  no  particular  subject,  and  it  is  decidedly  to  his  credit  that  he  should  be  supposed  to 
wish  to  become  acquainted  with  anything  so  good.  And  the  compliment  is  not  only  well  meant 
but  well  turned.  The  translator  has  given  an  English  version  which  is  thoroughly  alive— as, 
indeed,  it  ought  to  be.  In  mere  dictionary  accuracy  it  is  sound,  and  it  has  the  higher  accuracy 
of  spirit.  There  are  suppressions  which  Her  Royal  Highness  justifies  because  of  the  coarse 
character  of  the  original.  Now  Wilhelmine  had  that  fine  eighteenth  century  habit  of  being 
outspoken,  and  has  unquestionably  spoken  of  certain  matters  in  connection  with  Augustus 
the  Strong  and  Peter  the  Great,  which  a  lady  of  her  position,  or  indeed  any  lady,  in  these 
days  would  leave  among  the  tacenda." 

"The   Woman's   World." 

"The  Princess  Christian's  translation  of  'The  Memoirs  of  Wilhelmine,  Margravine 
of  Bayreuth'  is  a  most  fascinating  and  delightful  book.  The  Margravine  and  her  brother, 
Frederick  the  Great,  were,  as  the  Princess  herself  points  out  in  an  admirably  written 
introduction,  'among  the  first  of  those  questioning  minds  that  strove  after  spiritual  freedom' 
in  the  last  century.  '  They  had  studied,'  says  the  Princess,  '  the  English  philosophers,  Newton, 
Locke,  and  Shaftesbury,  and  were  roused  to  enthusiasm  by  the  writings  of  Voltaire  and 
Rousseau.  Their  whole  lives  bore  the  impress  of  the  influence  of  French  thought  on  the 
burning  questions  of  the  day.  In  the  eighteenth  century  began  that  great  struggle  of  philosophy 
against  tyranny  and  worn-out  abuses  which  culminated  in  the  French  Revolution.  The  noblest 
minds  were  engaged  in  the  struggle,  and,  like  most  reformers,  they  pushed  their  conclusions  to 
extremes,  and  too  often  lost  sight  of  the  need  of  a  due  proportion  in  things.  The  Margravine's 
influence  on  the  intellectual  development  of  her  country  is  untold.  She  formed  at  Bayreuth 
a  centre  of  culture  and  learning  which  had  before  been  undreamt  of  in  Germany.'  The 
historical  value  of  these  '  Memoirs  '  is,  of  course,  well  known.  Carlyle  speaks  of  them  as  being 
'by  far  the  best  authority  '  on  the  early  life  of  Frederick  the  Great." 

"The   Literary   Churchman." 

"The  most  curious  piece  of  autobiography,  written  by  one  royal  personage  and  translated 
by  another  of  her  own  kindred,  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  has  more  of  interest 
and  purpose  to  our  modern  generation  than  appears  at  first  in  its  small  gossipand  petty  scandal 
of  a  gone-by  period.  It  conveys  a  vivid  picture,  and  we  fear  a  true  one,  of  the  ordinary  run  of 
court  life  at  that  time,  such  as  would  hardly  be  credible,  were  it  not  transmitted  by  one  of 
those  to  whom  such  lite  was  the  ordinary  thing,  and  it  certainly  answers  emphatically  the 
question  as  to  whether  the  general  current  of  life,  court  or  other,  is  improved  in  our  day.  It  is 
scarcely  possible  to  believe  that  such  a  state  of  degradation,  coarseness — we  must  call  it 
brutality — could  have  been  the  ordinary  condition  of  European  life  in  the  eighteenth  century  ; 
and  yet  here  we  have  it  minutely  portrayed  by  a  member  of  the  Prussian  Royal  family,  who, 
bitterly  as  she  complains  of  much  that  she  underwent,  does  not  seem  to  look  upon  it  all  as 
anything  very  extraordinary,  or  to  be  greatly  wondered  at." 

"Pall  Mall  Gazette." 

"  Thanks  are  due  to  the  Princess  Christian  for  the  translation  which  has  to  a  great  extent 
the  character  of  original  writing,  so  clear  and  terse  are  the  sentences." 


LONDON:   DAVID   STOTT,  370,  OXFORD  STREET,  W. 


abib  <Stott0  ijtcto  |l«bUcation0. 


* 


>$=©=&' 


MEMOIRS   OF   THE   MARGRAVINE   OE   BAIREUTH.     Translated 

and  Edited  by  Her  Royal  Highness  Princess  Christian.  With  Portrait.  Post  8vo.   Price  12s. 

Uniform  with  the  above. 

THE   MARGRAVINE   OF   BAIREUTH   AND   VOLTAIRE.     By  Dr. 

George  Horn.    Translated  by  H.R.H.  Princess  Christian.    Post  8vo. 

SAPPHO:    MEMOIRS,    TEXT,    AND    TRANSLATION.     By   H.   T. 

Wharton,  M\A.     Second  Edition.    With  Etched  Portrait  of  Sappho,  and  Autotype  of  Frag- 
ment of  Sappho's  MS.    Parchment,  Fcap  8vo.    Price  7s.  6d. 

SIR   PHILIP   SIDNEY'S   ASTROPHEL  AND  STELLA,  WHEREIN 

THE  EXCELLENCE  OF  SWEET   POESY   IS    CONCLUDED.     Edited  from  the  Folio  of 
1598.    By  Alfred  W.  Pollard.    With  Portrait.    Parchment,  Fcap  8vo.    Price  Ts.  6d. 

AFTER    PARADISE  ;    or,   Legends  of   Exile,   with  other  Poems.     By 

Robert,  Earl  or  Lytton.    Small  Fcap  8vo.    Price  3s.  6d. 

THE  EARLY  LIFE  OF  JESUS.     By  Rev.  Stopford  A.  Brooke,  M.A. 

Crown  8vo.    Price  6s. 

THE    UNITY    OF    GOD    AND   MAN,  and  other  Sermons.     By  Rev. 

Stopford  A.  Brooke.    Second  Edition.    Fcap  8vo.    Price  4s. 

SUNSHINE  AND  SHADOW.     Meditations  from  the  Writings  of  the 

Rev.  Stopford   A.  Brooke.     Arranged  for  Daily  Use.    With  Portrait.     Second  Edition, 
Revised.     Fcap  8vo.    Price  6s. 

ENIGMAS  OF  THE  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.     By  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Crauftjrd. 

Author  of  "The  Unknown  God."    Small  8vo.    Price  6s. 

THE  UNKNOWN  GOD.     Sermons  preached  in  London  by  the  Rev.  A. 

H.  Craufurd.     Second  Edition.     Crown  Svo.    Price  6s. 

TRUE     RELIGION  ;    being   a    Series    of    Short    Essays    touching   the 

intimate  Relation  of   Religion  to  some  Matters  of  Common  Life.     By  the  Rev.  John  W. 
Diggle,  Vicar  of  Mosely  Hill,  Liverpool.     Crown  8vo.    Price  5s. 

FEDA,  and  other  Poems,  chiefly  Lyrical.     By  Rennell  Rodd.     Crown 

8vo.    Price  6s. 

POEMS  IN   MANY   LANDS.     By  the  same  Author.     Second  Edition. 

Crown  8vo.    Price  5s. 

THE  UNKNOWN  MADONNA,  and  other  Poems.     By  the  same  Author. 

With  Frontispiece  by  W.  B.  Richmond,  A.R.A.    Crown  8vo,  cloth.    Price  5s. 

FROM  WEST  TO  EAST.     By  Henry  Rose,  Author  of  "  Three  Sheiks." 

Crown  8vo.    Price  3s.  6d. 

THE    QUEEN'S    INNOCENT,  with   other  Poems.     By  Elise  Cooper. 

Crown  8vo.    Price  5s. 

VOLUNTARIES  FOR  AN   EAST   LONDON   HOSPITAL.     Including 

Contributions  from  Lord  Lytton,  Austin  Dobson,  Andrew  Lang,  R.  L.  Stevenson,  &c,  &c. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth.     Price  6s. 

VERONA.     By  Mrs.  L.  Ormiston  Chant.     Fcap  8vo,  cloth.     Price  5s. 
CHILDREN'S  FAIRY  GEOGRAPHY;  or,  A  Merry  Trip  Round  Europe. 

By   Rev.  Forbes  E.  Winslow,  St.  Leonard's-on-Sea.      New   and  Cheaper  Edition.     Eighth 
Thousand.     Price  6s. ;  or  with  gilt  sides  and  gilt  edges,  price  7s.  6d. 

"  One  of  the  most  charming  books  ever  published  for  young  people." 

WHO    WROTE    'SHAKESPEARE?'      "Aye,   there's   the   rub."     By 

Wm.  Henderson.    Illustrated  by  Charles  Lyall.     Dedicated  by  permission  to  Henry 
Irving,  Esq.    Price  Is. ;  Large  Paper,  2s.  6d. 

FINGERS  AND  FORTUNE  ;  A  Guide  Book  to  Palmistry.     By  Eveline 

M.  Farwell.     Sixth  Thousand.    Fcap  8vo,  cloth.    Price  Is. 


LONDON:   DAVID   STOTT,   370,   OXFORD   STREET,  W. 


W6  A3 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


STACK  COLLECTION 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


(F44o8s4) 1761 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA      000  178174    9 


